Watch The Weight of Honor FREE online May 24th-28th, then join us for a panel discussion with caregivers and experts on Wednesday afternoon, May 27th on Zoom.
The Weight of Honor is a powerful film that shares the stories of military families caring for their catastrophically wounded returning from wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. We are giving access to the film online HERE starting on May 24th up through the discussion on May 27th. We invite you to watch the film for free and then join us live as we discuss the film and how we can support our military caregivers.
To access to discussion, please join us on Zoom with this LINK on May 27th at 12pm PT/3pm ET.
Panelists:
Stephanie Seldin Howard | Executive Producer, Director, and Writer for THE WEIGHT OF HONOR
Shawn Moore, MSW | Executive Director and Founder of Caregivers On The Homefront
Terri Tanielian | Behavioral Scientist
Gina Hill | Caregiver and Wife of SSG Allen Hill, US Army, Ret.
Colonel (Ret.), Sam Whitehurst | Vice President, Programs & Services at Dixon Center for Military and Veteran Services
Colonel (Ret.) Sam Whitehurst
Vice President, Programs & Services at Dixon Center for Military and Veteran Services
Colonel (Ret.) Sam Whitehurst served 29 years in the United States Army and is now Vice President of Programs & Services for Dixon Center for Military and Veterans Services. Drawing upon his experience leading Soldiers during his military career, his focus is ensuring that service members, military veterans, and their families reach their full potential and successfully integrate back into their communities.
Shawn Moore, MSW
Executive Director & Founder of Caregivers on the Homefront
Shawn recently graduated with a Masters in Social Work from Park University and was a 14-year veteran with the Kansas City, Missouri Police department. She founded Caregivers on the Homefront in 2017 when she recognized many gaps in the support services for military and veteran caregivers of all eras. She is a Missouri Dole Caregiver Fellow alumna for the Elizabeth Dole Foundation. Since May of 2013 Shawn has been a caregiver for her husband who is a 23-year Army veteran. She has a passion for supporting and advocating for military and veteran family caregivers. She was awarded the Field Education Student of the Year for 2018-19 with Park University. Shawn is the President of the Phi Alpha Rho Epsilon Honor Society at Park University. She is a certified Peer Mentor and Facilitator with the Red Cross Military and Veteran Caregiver Network. She is also a Peer Mentor with the VA Caregiver Program. She was chosen as a Caregiver Visionary winner for Caregiving.com in 2019. Shawn openly shares her caregiver story throughout the United States in hopes that all family caregivers will be recognized for the work they do to take care of our wounded veterans. Shawn has four daughters, two step-sons, and 4 grandchildren. She enjoys reading and traveling.
Terri Tanielian
Senior Behavioral Scientist at the RAND Corporation
Terri Tanielian is a senior behavioral scientist at the RAND Corporation. Tanielian is a nationally recognized expert in military and veteran’s health policy. Her research interests include access to and quality of care for service-connected health problems, particularly mental health problems; military and veteran suicide; military sexual assault; military families; veteran caregivers; and psychological and behavioral effects of combat, terrorism, and disasters. She employs both quantitative and qualitative research methods and analyses in her work, including surveys, interviews, focus groups, and analysis of administrative data; as well as environmental scans of existing policies, programs and services. Tanielian served as the inaugural RAND Congressional Fellow with the House Veterans Affairs Committee where she focused on informing legislative opportunities designed to support comprehensive suicide prevention strategy. She also has served RAND liaison to the Department of Veterans Affairs and as a Senior Fellow in the Military Service Initiative for the George W Bush Institute. She formerly directed RAND’s Center for Military Health Policy Research, overseeing RAND's diverse military health research portfolio. In this role, she was interacted regularly with senior military health officials to identify and develop policy relevant studies and advise on the use of findings to improve decisionmaking. Tanielian was co–study director for RAND’s seminal study Invisible Wounds of War: Psychological and Cognitive Injuries, Their Consequences, and Services to Assist Recovery, the first non-governmental assessment of the psychological, emotional, and cognitive consequences of deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan. She won the AcademyHealth Impact Award for this work in 2011. She was also the principal investigator for RAND’s comprehensive study of military and veteran caregivers titled Hidden Heroes: America’s Military Caregivers. She led the first ever prospective longitudinal study of military families across the deployment cycle, the Deployment Life Study. She has conducted several needs assessments examining the challenges and issues facing veterans living in the Detroit Metropolitan Area, Massachusetts and in New York State. Her studies have also examined the readiness of private sector health providers to deliver high quality care to veterans. She also led a study examining community based models for expanding mental health care for returning veterans and their families under the Welcome Back Veterans Initiative, as well as a consensus building effort to design a Blueprint for Future Research on Veteran Caregiving. Tanielian has published more than 100 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters. She has served on many advisory committees and expert panels related to veteran mental health policy, public health preparedness, and homeland security. Tanielian has a M.A. in psychology from the American University.
Stephanie Seldin Howard
Executive Producer, Writer & Director
Stephanie believes empathy is the driving force behind storytelling, something she attributes to her 25-year career as a broadcast news producer. The Omaha, Nebraska native is the recipient of a Los Angeles Emmy Award coupled with two additional Los Angeles Emmy nominations. Stephanie has produced specials and documentaries for CNN, Fox News Channel, and Reuters as well as local coverage for KNBC-TV and KTTV-TV in Los Angeles. She was the co-producer of “Refusenik,” a documentary about the decades-long movement to free Jews held against their will by the Soviet Union.
In 2014 Stephanie was awarded the Roy W. Dean Grant from From the Heart Productions making her documentary The Weight of Honor possible. She is a member of the International Documentary Association, Film Fatales, and Film Independent.
Gina Hill
WIFE OF SSG ALLEN HILL, US ARMY, RET.
Gina was an elementary and a middle school teacher before leaving to take care of their youngest son (now 14). In 2007, when their son was almost four, Allen was injured in Iraq when his humvee hit an IED. Gina, already a stay-at-home mom, was then thrust into a different type of caregiving: Administering to her husband’s severe emotional wounds 24/7. The biggest challenge was the planning it took to do ‘normal’ things, such as going to church, or to a restaurant. In the early days, having to develop a ‘plan B’ in case things didn’t work out was very stressful. Often, it led to a feeling of isolation, ‘as though you’re in a room full of people, but you’re all alone.’ Today, the Hill’s are in a much better spot. Gina works for a veteran service organization whose primary focus is finding resources for veterans who are homeless. Allen helps with one of the projects, building a tiny house village for the homeless vets. This involvement has been very helpful for both of them. Gina credits her faith, and her close family relations (especially her sister) for giving her strength.
Natasha Swayze
Moderator
Natasha received her Bachelor's of Social Work and a Master's of Social Work degree from Park University. Natasha is a member of Phi Alpha Rho Epsilon Honor Society and was active in participating in service activities as a member. Natasha has a passion for the military community and is a caregiver to her ex-spouse. Natasha brings a unique perspective as a caregiver as she openly shares her story of how she continues her role as a caregiver and what the caregiver role looks like after divorce, especially when children are involved. While completing a Summer internship at The Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Leavenworth Kansas and connecting to Caregivers on the Homefront, Natasha's desire to advocate for the caregivers of military families grew. Natasha is a mother to three children and enjoys walking, trying new restaurants, traveling, listening to music, and meditation.