Warren County has a unique resource for those who have lost a loved one who serves, or formerly served, in the military.

Since February, TAPS Senior Peer Mentor Coordinator Katie Travis has called the county home.

“TAPS provides wrap-around services for those who have lost a loved one that was serving or had previously served in the military,” Travis said. “We help anyone who considered themselves family or friend, and as a non-government agency we are able to provide services without barriers.

“Some barriers that exist in other agencies/organizations are things like having to be an immediate family member, (such as a) parent, spouse, child. We also help aunts and uncles, grandparents, unmarried partners, nieces, nephews, friends, battle buddies, ex-spouses/partners, etc. A service member’s history – such as discharge type, how long, and when they served – can sometimes be a problematic factor. We also help regardless of manner of death and whether or not it was service-connected.”

The program provides one-on-one support, regular check-ins during a participant’s first year, in-person care groups, virtual support groups and workshops on grief, according to Travis. The program also offers education benefits, financial assistance, help navigating death and military benefits, help locating grief counseling and other services that are in the survivors local area, a 24-hour helpline to connect survivors to services and provide “a caring and listening ear when grief hits the hardest and there is no one you can talk to.”

“I work full-time for TAPS as their senior peer mentor coordinator,” Travis said. “When a military survivor – families, friends, loved ones of those who served in the military and have passed away – and are 18 or more months out from their loss, they can choose to become a peer mentor and come alongside a fellow survivor who is newer in their grief.”

Travis helped develop the peer mentor program curriculum, trains new peer mentors regionally and nationally, teaches developmental training courses for existing peer mentors, matches mentors with new survivors looking for support and facilitates support groups and seminars..

Travis also works with the Schorman Center at Hospice of Warren County as a grief counselor.

“The Schorman Center offers free grief counseling for bereaved persons in the Warren area.,” Travis said. “This service is available to adults and children and the deceased does not have to have been a hospice client. I am one of the counselors and offer talk therapy.”

She said she feels the services are important and encouraged survivors to reach out.

“Death is an inevitable part of life, a painfully sad, inevitable part of life. Nobody should have to grieve alone or be left to deal with the grief alone,” Travis said. “Unfortunately, mental health services can often be costly and that puts them out of reach for those who may need them the most. Grief is something we will all experience and therefore help should be available to everybody without having to put a label on who your person was to you. Loss is loss, pain is pain, grief is grief. We all grieve differently but we all grieve, and no person’s loss should be more or less than someone else’s. This is a club that nobody wants membership to, but companioning and coming alongside those who have experienced something similar can be extremely beneficial as you travel along this grief journey. Everybody grieves differently and contrary to historical belief there is no rhyme or reason or steps to the grief process. Sometimes the best way to heal is just to have someone who can be your beacon of support and listen to you and confirm that you are, in fact, NOT crazy, we’ve all felt similar feelings. ‘It’s OK to not be OK.'”