{"id":6885,"date":"2021-12-15T09:48:18","date_gmt":"2021-12-15T14:48:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/?p=6885"},"modified":"2025-08-24T12:25:37","modified_gmt":"2025-08-24T16:25:37","slug":"save-a-warrior-75-hours","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/2021\/12\/15\/save-a-warrior-75-hours\/","title":{"rendered":"Save a Warrior: 75 Hours"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The rising rate of veteran suicide is a topic that creates a lot of buzz in the news. The Office of Veterans Affairs (VA) has numerous programs to combat the issue. The problem is that its programs don\u2019t work for many veterans. Save A Warrior (SAW), based out of Ohio, is dedicated to changing this narrative. The SAW program, founded in 2012, is at the front of the fight against suicide. To date, over 1400 men and women have gone through the program.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0SAW provides a 75-hour program. From start to finish, it is designed to turn the perspective of trauma upside down. It is different. What does that mean? It means that for 75 continuous hours participants are immersed in the program. They give control of their lives to someone else. All applicants walk in voluntarily, looking for a new way to deal with their trauma (demons). If they stay, and if they allow themselves to begin to heal, they walk out with a chance.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Save A Warrior. (July 2021) [Picture of Cohort 0142 on Day Three, Completion photo, it shows the transformation 75 hours can make when dedicated men and women come together to make a difference in their lives.]<\/p><\/div>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Recently, SAW received a grant from Disabled American Veterans (DAV). It is building a National Center of Excellence for PTS(d) in Ohio. The new facility is slated to open in 2022. It will be the site of all future cohorts in Ohio, as well as host meetings and classes for staff and board members.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0So\u2026what exactly happens at a SAW cohort? Why does the SAW program work, when the VA often doesn\u2019t? It works because staff members keep love part of the equation. They keep humanity at the forefront of the work they are doing. And it shows in their results.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Joe Ariza, cohort 084, said, \u201cDay Zero\u2014a participant arrives for their cohort. They meet the people that they will spend the next 75 hours with and get one last chance to back out. This is it. It\u2019s the real deal. If they stay, everything changes. A cohort photo is taken. It shows a \u2018before\u2019 that highlights the hopelessness in the eyes of the participants.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cDay One\u2014by this time, shock has set in fairly well. Information is getting thrown at the cohort quickly. There is no time to panic, only time to grab hold of what is being offered.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cDay Two\u2014a light is slowly beginning to show itself. The information that seemed so over the top makes sense now. The trauma that you have been holding on to\u2026you have a chance to let go of for good.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cDay Three\u2014Here is where it all makes sense. The finale. The ending that is only the beginning. You have bonded with your cohort and the staff. They are family. You are not alone. Never alone again. The cohort is complete. Another photo is taken. The difference is amazing. The tension and pain are gone. You are free.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Rosa Torres, cohort 015, female programming facilitator for SAW, said, \u201cIt\u2019s a place where people learn to change their perspective and change\/reclaim their lives.\u201d Ms. Torres attended one of the earliest cohorts at SAW and has been involved with the program for the past seven years. Ms. Torres said, \u201cSAW chose me! Attending the program not only changed my life. I could very assuredly say that it saved my life.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Summer Moynihan, cohort 0110, chose to attend the SAW program when a new counselor recommended it to her after many failed attempts at counseling. She said, \u201cSAW is not a vacation, retreat or a miracle cure. It is a chance to find peace. I no longer live in the past. I am in the here and now.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Sarah Hansen, cohort 099, wasn\u2019t looking for a program when SAW was recommended to her, but applied anyway. Ms. Hansen said, \u201cSome of the boundaries they pushed I did not like. It may have been meant to open people up. But it made me recoil and that\u2019s a lot of my trauma.\u201d SAW did change some things for Ms. Hansen, though. \u201cI have learned to sit back, to just be one with my emotions.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0And that, in a nutshell, is what SAW does. It gives our veterans and first responders the chance to have a conversation. It provides a safe space to grieve the pain and loss that trauma brings. SAW is committed to bringing change to the arena of veteran and first responder suicide rates by starting a conversation that is impossible to ignore.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The rising rate of veteran suicide is a topic that creates a lot of buzz in the news. The Office of Veterans Affairs (VA) has numerous programs to combat the issue. The problem is that its programs don\u2019t work for many veterans. Save A Warrior (SAW), based out of Ohio, is dedicated to changing this […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":219,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7381],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6885","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archives","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6885","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/219"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6885"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6885\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8224,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6885\/revisions\/8224"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6885"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6885"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6885"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}