The Arms Forces is a nonprofit organization that embraces the unique needs of veterans who have a traumatic brain injury or post-traumatic stress disorder through individualized programs and services. We maintain a network of trained volunteer Life Navigation Coaches who give individual assistance to our wounded warriors who have the invisible wounds of war, at no cost to the veteran. We reach out to the families and loved ones of invisibly wounded veterans through our LEEF family support experience. We bring about change in the stigma attached to such injuries by raising the consciousness of citizens as to what TBI and PTSD are and what they are not, through educational training and speeches and organizational culture. We understand the impact on lives that traumatic brain injury or post-traumatic stress disorder can have and we provide a compass that allows our veterans to reach their highest potential and improve the quality of their lives.
The Arms Forces was founded in 2009 by Pam Hays, a severe traumatic brain injury survivor, after years of research on traumatic brain injury. She found a major gap in services that can keep veterans from fully utilizing the often cumbersome system of supports and and services that exist for them. She found that many veteran TBI and PTSD survivors were not reaching their full potential. Understanding that the system of services is supposed to exist for the surivivor, not the other way around, she developed a plan to find a way to bring services to veterans that matched their unique challenges from their invisible wounds. The Life Navigation Coach program is part of the plan.
The Arms Forces knows that the families and friends who support our invisbly wounded warriors need support also. We developed our LEEF family support program out of that need. Many support groups may exist, but LEEF is specific to families and loved ones of veterans with traumatic brain injury or post-traumatic stress disorder. If veterans have unique needs due to their invisible wounds, then those who are assisting them in their daily lives have unique needs also. LEEF-Lifting up, Educating and Empowering Families and friends is a unique support experience like no other!
Educating the providers is an important outreach of The Arms Forces. Whether it is an organization such as The Disabled American Veterans, a government resource such as The Veterans Service Commission, a Congressional approved group such as Blue Star Moms, or industry organizations such as Brain Injury Associations, The Arms Forces has provided training and speeches to bring the true face of TBI and PTSD to a wide audience and is an expert contributor on Sharecare.com, a new health website that is a parternship between Dr. Oz, Harpo Studios, Sony, Discovery and Challenge America.
The Arms Forces is committed to being a leader in serving veterans with traumatic brain injury or post-traumatic stress disorder by addressing their unique needs and providing programs and services that are customized to make the most of their deficits while highlighting their abilities.