SOUTH CAROLINA, November 7, 2024 — This Veterans Day, the American Red Cross is celebrating veterans and the sacrifices they’ve made. Their service to this country inspires 150 Red Cross Service to the Armed Forces (SAF) employees and volunteers in South Carolina to provide a continuum of care to service members, veterans, their caregivers and their families.
Through every phase of duty, service members and their families face a unique, sometimes daunting set of challenges – like reaching a loved one on a military vessel at sea or supporting a veteran living with depression.
Through the Hero Care Network, the Red Cross connects service members, veterans and their families to free and confidential assistance any day, anytime. This includes facilitating emergency communication messages, facilitating financial assistance, critical community services and more. By focusing on the whole health of service members, the Red Cross ensures that they receive the care and support they need to thrive both during and after their service.
“The Hero Care Network can help veterans find housing or other assistance,” said Denise Teasdell, Regional SAF and International Services Director for the Red Cross of South Carolina. “We also offer resiliency workshops that we invite our veterans to come to if they need some time away from home. Sometimes veterans are dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and they need to do things with their hands or they need to kind of steady their minds. We do have workshops that we offer such as art therapy.”
Military and veteran communities face unique circumstances, and the Red Cross wants to help every step of the way. That’s why we offer a variety of resiliency workshops with effective tools to help the whole family improve communications, navigate challenges and manage stress. These programs are free, confidential and offered in person or online by licensed mental health professionals. The Red Cross offers many kinds of programs including the following: Coping with Deployments, Reconnection workshops, Mind-Body workshops and more.
“A lot of service members and veterans don’t realize what is available to them. As a third party that assists the VA, we always encourage our veterans to go to the VA and see what they qualify for. In the meantime, the Red Cross is here to assist with anything else they need,” said Denise.
Denise is a veteran herself and says the numerous outreach events her team attends and services they provide veterans mean a lot to her. She adds it makes her feel really good to give back and put a smile on faces that once served our country.
To access Red Cross services or to get involved as a volunteer, visit redcross.org/saf or download the Red Cross Hero Care app.
About the American Red Cross:
The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides comfort to victims of disasters; supplies about 40% of the nation’s blood; teaches skills that save lives; distributes international humanitarian aid; and supports veterans, military members and their families. The Red Cross is a nonprofit organization that depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to deliver its mission. For more information, please visit redcross.org or CruzRojaAmericana.org, or follow us on social media.