Home Base Program
OtherSeptember 08, 2015
Each month in this section the editorial staff of Military Embedded Systems will highlight a different charity that benefits military veterans and their families. We are honored to cover the technology that protects those who protect us every day. To back that up, our parent company – OpenSystems Media – will make a donation to every charity we showcase on this page.
This month we’re featuring the Home Base Program, a private-sector program dedicated to healing the “invisible wounds” of war for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans and their families. The Home Base clinical staff provides no-cost treatment each day for veterans living with post-traumatic stress, traumatic brain injury, depression, relationship challenges, military sexual trauma, substance abuse, and the stress and anxiety that result from wartime military service.
The Home Base program was started by Red Sox chairman Tom Werner: Following the baseball team’s 2007 World Series win, Red Sox players and owners met with wounded veterans at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and learned of the medical challenges faced by many of the returning veterans. Following his visit, Werner made a commitment to partner with the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston in order to address the signature “invisible wounds of war.” Home Base opened the door to its clinic in 2009 and since then has provided clinical care, services, and support to more than 5,000 veterans and military family members from across all six New England states.
In 2015, Home Base will transition from a Boston-based regional program to what will be called the National Center of Excellence for the Invisible Wounds of War. The program will grow its existing clinical staff of doctors, psychologists, nurses, physical medicine, rehabilitation specialists, and licensed clinical social workers to double the size of its clinical program. The majority of the program’s funding comes from individual, corporate, and foundational support.
For more information, visit www.runtohomebase.org.
