Habitat Monroe’s President/CEO, David Graves, with an event participant
Habitat Monroe is so blessed and excited to have been a part of Little Blessings Veteran & Community Outreach‘s latest event, a Wax Museum of Community Leaders! Habitat Monroe’s own President/CEO, David Graves, took part as a wax figure of a construction worker, speaking to the children about his job, while handing out construction pencils and interacting with the community.
Little Blessings has a wonderful, 18-week, 3-phase program for military kids, named S.E.E.A.L. (Social Emotional Equine Assisted Learning). While in the program, children of Veterans and active-duty parents learn a variety of skills through community involvement and activities. They learn the importance of teamwork, while enriching their social and emotional skills. This is all thanks to Kit Green, of Kit Cares, and Kyle Schaller & Jamie Paxton, of Little Blessings.
Military kids in the program began the third phase Monday: Community. To kick off this phase, community leaders came and performed a wax museum to help teach different roles in the community. Afterward, the kids were allowed to check out a police cruiser, fire truck, and ambulance.
“The program is designed to help children explore and name their feelings, but we also give them tools and strategies to manage their feelings. Building on that, we then create opportunities for them to work in various team settings to build those collaborative skills. And finally, we kick off our Community phase of the program with the phenomenal event – Community Leaders Wax Museum! It’s a big hit every time, and we love our community leaders so much for helping to create this experience for our LBMK [Little Blessings Military Kids] kiddos!”
Children often need additional support while coping with the long-term separation from their parent that naturally accompanies a deployment. Being able to have a community of their own, as children of Veterans, allows for sharing emotion in a safe environment, and to feel a sense of ownership and participation in the family. Little Blessings is there for them.
“I absolutely love this program because these kids are affected by the veteran coming home, as much as the veteran themselves are, and we are able to give them coping skills and confidence to express their emotions. We are helping set the baseline to make these children their best individual selves, and it’s successful.“
Special thanks to Tracy Thompson of Absolute Memories Photography for the outstanding photos!
Any military child who resides in Monroe County can participate in Little Blessings’ S.E.E.A.L. program.
For more information, contact Kit of Kit Cares, Kyle Schaller, or Jamie at 419.779.0342.
Little Blessings Veteran Outreach (lbveteranoutreach.org)
