California Collaborative for Equine Programs Serving Veterans, Military and Their Families

On Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2011 DreamPower staff will be facilitating the introductory meeting of the California Collaborative for Therapeutic Horsemanship Programs Serving Veterans, Military and Their Families.
This is very exciting! California will be the first state in the U.S. to have attempted to organize the equine programs who are working with veterans and military personnel. (Organizing horsemanship programs is a little bit like "herding cats!")

Since there are approximately 25 million veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces alive today, and California has more veterans living here than in any other state (more than 2 million), the need for services for our vets is huge. We are proud that DreamPower is leading the way in providing innovative, effective equine services for our veterans and their families.

This introductory meeting will be held on Tuesday, January 25, 2011 from 12:15 pm – 2:00 pm at the Moffett Field Clubhouse (Sunnyvale). It will directly follow the regular meeting of the California Collaborative for Our Military and Families, which will be meeting in the same location from 10:00 am - 12. During the 10:00 Collaborative meeting, Martha McNiel will be speaking (briefly) about the benefits of equine activities and therapies for veterans.

The purpose of this first meeting is to:
· Meet each other and introduce ourselves
· Share information about who is doing what and where veterans’ horse programs are happening
· Build cooperation, collaboration and community among the veterans' horse programs
· Provide information about the California Collaborative for our Military and Families and refer participants to the Collaborative meeting closest to them
· Discuss the needs and interests of the group
· Begin building a contact list of California therapeutic horsemanship programs working with veterans, military personnel and their families and those who are interested in beginning this work.

We are inviting ALL veterans' horsemanship programs and individuals working with veterans in California to participate in this Equine Veterans Collaborative. Please feel free to pass this information on to anyone you know who is working with veterans and horses or who might be interested in attending this meeting. It is not necessary to RSVP, but if you know you are going to attend, it would be helpful if you would let me know (so we have enough food and chairs). For more information, contact Martha McNiel at (408) 686-0535 or email dreampowerhorsemanship at hotmail dot com.

And a special thanks to the DreamPower volunteers and donors who support our work with veterans and help us to put more "boots on the ground."