 As a sign of its support for helping military veterans and first responders suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) secure proper treatment before resorting to suicide to overcome this affliction, Knights of Columbus Council 7091 of Cypress Gardens recently donated $1,000 to a local veterans service organization known as 22Zero Follow Me, Inc. Based in Winter Haven, 22Zero recruits and trains therapists, counselors, psychologists and social workers to become certified in Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART) and Reconsolidating of Traumatic Memories Protocol (RTM), two new and highly-effective therapies for treating PTSD. 22Zero was established by Dan Jarvis, a Winter Haven High School graduate who made a vow to help veterans overcome PTSD after he was victimized by it as a member of the military serving multiple tours of duty in Iraq. Jarvis, who conquered PTSD with the help of ATR and RTM, serves as the non-profit organization’s executive director. As guest speaker at an October 22 council meeting, Jarvis said 22Zero is enjoying success in helping veterans and first responders overcome PTSD by making ART and RTM therapies available to them. He said 22Zero derives most of its funding from government grants and donations from individuals and charitable groups like the K of C.
Following his talk, Jarvis was presented with a check for $1,000 by Grand Knight James Sharak. This is the second donation made to the non-profit this year by K of C Council 7091, the first one being for $500 awarded in January. According to Jarvis, statistics show that nationwide 22 PTSD-afflicted veterans/first responders take their own lives by suicide each day. The goal of 22Zero is to reduce this number to zero. “Veterans Administration statistics tell us that military veterans are 22 percent more likely to commit suicide when compared to civilian adults in the United States,” Jarvis said, adding first responders, including police, firefighters and emergency medical technicians also experience high incidents of suicide. In addition to building a network of trained therapists through its Provider Expansion Program, 22Zero offers a Bridge Builder Program that connects at-risk veterans and first responders with ART and RTM-certified and licensed therapists. RTM was created in the aftermath of 9/11 by Frank Bourke, a New York clinical psychologist who assisted Jarvis in launching 22Zero and helps train the therapists he recruits. Early this year, Bourke came to Winter Haven to lead 22Zero training sessions. Jarvis, who enlisted in the U.S. Army after graduating from Winter Haven High School in 1988, experienced PTSD first hand due to a battlefield incident in 2011 in which a roadside bomb killed a member of a squad he was leading and inflicted serious injury on him. This occurred while he was serving as a sergeant first class on one of multiple tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. After seeking relief from the physical and mental anguish he was experiencing from PTSD in many ways, including excessive alcohol use, Jarvis overcame it by completing the ART and RTM therapies in 2017. He established 22Zero Follow Me to fulfill a promise he made to himself to make these therapies available to at-risk veterans. For more information on 22Zero, call Jarvis at 863-221-6304 or send him an e-mail at <[email protected]>.
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