PBS and NPR for Southwest Florida
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Runners Supporting Post-9/11 Vets Take Off in Saturday Fundraiser

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e8/US_Navy_100519-N-7367K-001_A_Sailor_and_a_Soldier_based_in_southern_Mississippi_sprint_to_the_finish_line_during_the_Run_for_Relief_5K_Challenge.jpg
Photo: U.S. Navy via Wikimedia Creative Commons
A sailor and a soldier race to the finish in a 2010 race.

This weekend a 5k/10k run and walk for post-9/11 veterans, service members, and their families will take place at Jetblue Park, to support the more more than 5,000 veterans living in Southwest Florida.

 The event is organized by Home Base, an effort to help heal the "invisible wounds" of war like post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury through a a unique health and fitness program for the 230,000 post-9/11 veterans in Florida. The organization also offers vets a "warm hand-off" to other clinical care options in the region. The program is a partnership with the Red Sox Foundation and Massachusetts General Hospital.

 
Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. on Gulf Coast Live, Home Base of Southwest Florida program manager and U.S. Marine Corps veteran Armando Hernandez discuss the current mental health care needs and resources available to veterans in the region, and the goals of the weekend run and fundraiser.
 
Also joining the program is Karter Elliot, a Marine Corps veteran who went through the Home base program who found a network of support among other vets to ease his reintegration into civilian life. 

Matthew Smith is a reporter and producer of WGCU’s Gulf Coast Live.
Related Content
  1. Independent Lens Tells Cape Coral Soldier’s Whistle Blower Story