Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTS) may develop after a person is exposed to one or more traumatic events, such as sexual assault, warfare, serious injury, or threats of imminent death.  The diagnosis may be given when a group of symptoms, such as disturbing recurring flashbacks, avoidance or numbing of memories of the event, and hyper arousal, continue for more than a month after the occurrence of a traumatic event.

We, at The Journey Home Project, see PTS as a tragic and defined enemy that is aggressively attacking our soldiers, community and country, a silent killer that knows no boundaries and is relentless in its pursuit to destroy anyone in its path. It is said that it kills those who don’t even have it. The collateral damage can be devastating to all.

Our mission is to identify the centers, organizations and programs that can best serve our soldiers and families in their journey to reintegrate back to civilian life, on life’s terms.

By raising awareness and funding, The Journey Home Project will continue to be diligent in our efforts to make a difference.

On November 5, 2015, Middle Tennessee State University’s Veterans and Military Family Center— now named the Charlie and Hazel Daniels Veterans and Military Family Center—opened. The Center is much more than a lounge. It is a 2,600 square-foot, comprehensive, “one-stop” student-veterans hub (mtsu.edu/military), the 5-point mission of which is to: Enroll student-veterans and family members, Encourage them while at MTSU, assist with Employment, Educate the university community, and Expand the veteran-education knowledge base.

Education represents the very centerpiece of the foundation on which The Journey Home Project was created. The Charlie Daniels Scholarship for Heroes, created by Lipscomb University and Charlie himself, has been the main focus of our fundraising efforts for the last five years.

Charlie believes that the opportunity to provide, or to support a continued education, is one of the greatest gifts that we can share with veterans or their families. There are many soldiers who put their education on hold when they deploy. While others return home, searching for opportunities to earn a degree in higher learning. This hopefully will enhance their career choices and re-entry into life as a civilian. We feel that an education is the only thing that cannot be taken away from a soldier.

Programs such as the GI Bill or Yellow Ribbon Bill provide funding for fully vested soldiers, but many times, for many reasons, that funding falls short of the need to accomplish the veteran’s goals.

We at the Journey Home project are committed to providing direction, help, and or support with such short falls, whenever possible. Also, we will continue to identify as many different organizations and universities that offer similar educational programs for our returning veterans.

We believe it is important to see these related and relevant definitions in order to completely grasp what re integration really means. Every soldier, Marine, airman or sailor’s journey home is different.. The process of a returning soldier is all of this, and more. Some believe it to be the most difficult of all tasks a Veteran faces at tour’s end.

“To return, to repair, restore, to re integrate…. To give back (something previously stolen, taken away, or lost) back to the original owner or recipient.” Close your eyes and feel how those words resonate…to give back what was stolen.

For some, the challenges are minimal, for others, it can be an on going effort, a day at a time at best. Some require time, medical and emotional assistance, but most of all, they need a mission, and a purpose.

So let us be broad in our thinking, and bold in our actions. While we may not have lived what they are experiencing, TJHP is committed to give back, restore, and to return to the Veterans, the very thing he or she sacrifices, for the sake of us enjoying ours.
Lets help give these heroes of our nation their life back.

We at The Journey Home Project realize that once a young man, or woman, signs on the dotted line and becomes one our nations finest, his or her life changes forever.

It is when their commitment to our great country ends, and it is time to come home, the true Journey of the soldier begins. The rehabilitation piece is overwhelmingly broad and all encompassing. Its spectrum ranges from horrific physical injuries to life changing emotional and mental challenges. It can be as simple as re-adapting to civilian life, to redefining your whole life as it relates to loved ones, your identity as a person, and as a functional human being in today’s complex society.

Who am I? What do I do now? Why am I different? Why is my family different?

There are great Americans across this nation that want to help answer these questions. Citizens that recognize the need, but also have the desire to assist, to support and to offer the hope, strength, and encouragement that these young men and women have earned. They laid their lives on the line for us…some gave that life.

The Journey Home Project is here to bring awareness and support to the many wonderful organizations that can help facilitate this ever-growing need.