Women were not always permitted to enlist in the U.S. Armed Forces, although women have served in some important capacity for over 200 years. This weekend WNY Heroes is making sure at least one hundred local women set aside time for themselves.
Joining us today is the program director for WNY Heroes, Lynn Magistrale to tell us about their 4th Annual Female Veterans Retreat. Lynn says, “A lot of our events, if you will, take place evolving around mindfulness, health and wellness in a very fun way. So, with the way this world has been, it’s been hectic, it’s been crazy, it’s been traumatizing and even those who have served are dealing with their own issues as well and then throw in the mix what this world is dealing with. So, we want to make this fun, fun and useful and have them get the tools they need to take home with them after this weekend.” Lynn says the event is taking place in Buffalo, this weekend, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. All your meals are included and if you need a hotel room that is included as well.
Lynn says, “If you don’t take a step back, as you know, as everybody knows, veteran, non-veteran, you are going to roll into a bigger issue. So, you need to take that time out for yourself. WNY Heroes has several different programs. We have financial assistance, we have a backpack program which just closed out recently, we have a service dog program called Pawsitive for Heroes which has blown up tremendously, we have any type of peer-to-peer programs that you can ask for, whether it is for the female veterans, the male veterans, collaborated events or the family as a whole because lets not forget the family is what makes the world go round. If you don’t have that love and support of family, friends, neighbors, then what do we have, we start to close ourselves in.”
WNY Heroes has a new location at 1001 East Delavan. Lynn says the amount of support from the neighborhood has been tremendous.
Also taking place on November 4th is their annual gala. It is being held at the Seneca Niagara Casino.
For more information go to wnyheroes.org
