Documentary filmmaker Karen van Vuuren will be on hand February 19, 6-8pm to show her newest film Go in Peace! at the St. Charles Center for Health & Learning in Bend. The film will open with comments from Alison Perry, co-sponsor of this event and founder of local non-profit Central Oregon Veterans Ranch (COVR), followed by “Q & A” from the filmmaker and Perry, who has worked with veterans in Central Oregon since 2007.
The documentary focuses on the challenges veterans face at end of life and highlights 7 steps caregivers and family members can take to help free our veterans from the shackles of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and finding peace with their past. These issues are precisely what Alison Perry had in mind when she founded Central Oregon Veterans Ranch (COVR) and is her continuing passion. Creating a working ranch where veterans of various ages can come to find community, purpose, and healing is the vision and goal of COVR.
Ms. Perry, a Licensed Professional Counselor, is the sister of an Army MEDEVAC helicopter pilot who has served three tours in Iraq. She worked as a clinical counselor for the Department of Veterans Affairs for six years, at both the Portland VA Medical Center and the Bend VA Clinic. She is convinced that new approaches to healing veterans are critical and urgent.
“In addition to traditional forms of therapy and treatment, it is important that veterans continue to find purpose and meaning, ongoing ways to serve their communities and a strengthened sense of identity,” Alison says. The veterans’ ranch will provide supportive housing for up to five veterans who need assistance with living due to age or terminal illness; “We want to give veterans their best last days in an environment that fosters improved quality of life through community and peer-to-peer support.” It will also serve as an educational center with learning opportunities in ranching and farming for returning veterans and has been endorsed by the OSU Extension Service and the High Desert Food Alliance.
Since the group’s 501(c)(3) non-profit status was obtained in September 2014, COVR has raised over $40,000 and is in the process of financing to purchase a 19-acre ranch property between Bend and Redmond. The organization plans to open an Adult Foster Home and offer supportive housing for up to five veterans, in addition to establishing ranch operations.
COVR is currently working with other community and state agencies including OSU Extension Service to develop the project. There is currently no program similar to the COVR model in the region or state. Given the urgent needs of our veterans, COVR is appealing to the community to help create this innovative center so it can begin offering direct services to veterans in 2015.
Central Oregon Veterans Ranch
Or Alison Perry directly at:
541-706-9062
aperry@centraloregonveteransranch.org
www.centraloregonveteransranch.org
