About the Founder
Our Executive Director, Raul A. Maria, is well qualified for his position. While he has spent many years professionally employed as a School Teacher, Community Pastor, Army Chaplain with two tours to Iraq, and Federal Correctional Chaplain, his vocational experiences have been buttressed by earning a Master of Divinity M.Div, CPE. In addition, Mr. Maria’s involvement with the community has provided him with many opportunities to enhance his communication and leadership skills, both of which are vital to the success of the organization.
Impact
While Chaplain Raul Maria was serving in the army at Join Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM), WA, one particular morning he phone called a dear colleague of his who was suffering a deep depression when his military career was ending and his wife was living him. Although the colleague is a successful chaplain, at that very moment he was about to commit suicide. Chaplain Maria was able to motivate him to seek medical attention. He did and his live was preserved. As a form of self-therapy Chaplain Maria convinced his dear Chaplain friend to seek a certification in the program that enabled Chaplain Maria to get up from his own rock-bottom, Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST). They both became Registered Train the Trainers (T4T) of ASIST.
In a few words: those who suffer, heal; by taking his/her mind off the pain and focus in helping others. He/her became volunteers working together with the professionals to help and train others. This program provides for the well-being of individuals in the community, making and building a better society both locally and globally.
Our Purpose
It is a global moral based community center and school where we model a holistic health wellness and healing platform for all, Emotionally Wounded: Military, Veterans, Civilians & Families both locally and globally.
Who We Are
24\7 Link.Community was founded by a Disabled Combat Veteran, Clinician Chaplain now serving as a Chaplain for the Federal Bureau of Prison, Department of Justice. Chaplain (Captain U.S. Army Retiree) Raul A. Maria, Master in Divinity, CPE, began developing this program on January 22nd, 2017, in order to deal with the high rate of divorces and conjugal problems and their devastating impact among Veterans, Church goers, and the community at large. One of our programs will focus on those who have been hurt and pressured by their own families, toward a life of crime as they work for re-entry in our modern society.
One of the most profound things I have learned while dealing with inmates, is why so many follow the life of crime. Many witnesses the return of a highly respected family member from prison such as their father or uncle, while they are impressionable as a young child. This respected family member will be welcomed back as a hero with fanfare and deep respect. To a highly impressionable child he became a role model. Success in the inner city is measure by a prison sentence.
We cannot afford missing the mark of what this means. Our federal prison system is treating the symptoms and not the cause.
Our society at large is still suffering from family disintegration, human denigration, crime and recidivism, Suicide rise, our Vets are still PTSD wounded, and individual hurt in general. All in spite of so many for/no for-profit organizations, programs, community centers, companies, schools, churches, philanthropists, tools, technology, and most of all, caring individuals. To what extend are those care givers and entities are inter-connected or co-related working together toward one common goal, THE WELL BEING OF INDIVIDUALS (Couple, Family, Churches, Musk, Temples, synagogues) AND THE COMMUNITY & SOCIETY AT LARGE?
Who care for the Care Givers? How many of us are suffering along? Who out there is suffering from compassionate fatigue? Who is burned out? Who is right now hitting rock button along? Who right now is thinking to commit Suicide? The biggest problem is not who can be trusted, (every care giver will say “ME” The worse is who do You Trust if you are the one hitting rock button LIKE ME? How many times have you suffered along? Why?
The Mission of 24\7.LC is to Link each hurting/needed whether individual or institution, with a trusted (BATTLE BODDY) care giver whether individual or an institution, MILITARY or civilian = Linked Community for a Better Society.
The program’s primary focus is to offer an effective program that will improve the mental-social health of today society in how to live, work, learn, select a partner, and recreate as a normal couple should be. As an agency, we will strive to keep working to build lasting, and comprehensive efforts to address all those issues and other negative pattern behaviors that is affecting all kind of families, bringing a variety of workshops, counseling, Retreats, Conferences, and different Community activity strategies.
DO YOU KNOW?
For many veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan, the return home is not a postscript to the war so much as another chapter. In these conflicts, mental wounds have outnumbered physical ones. Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) have been called the wars’ signature injuries. In 2008 the RAND Corporation surveyed a group of veterans six months after their return. It found that almost one in five had either PTSD or major depression. In recent years rates of substance abuse and suicide among veterans have also ticked steadily upward.
A certain number of veterans suffering from mental-health issues will, invariably, end up in jail or prison. Many actually are incarcerated. After Vietnam, the number of inmates with prior military service rose steadily until reaching a peak in 1985, when more than one in five was a veteran. By 1988, more than half of all Vietnam veterans diagnosed with PTSD reported that they had been arrested; more than one third reported they had been arrested multiple times. Today veterans advocate fear that, unless they receive proper support, a similar epidemic may befall soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.
No one knows how many veterans are incarcerated, but the most recent survey, compiled by the Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Statistics in 2004, found that nearly one in 10 inmates in U.S. jails had prior military service. Extrapolated to the total prison population, this means that approximately 200,000 veterans were behind bars. Margaret Noonan, a statistician who co-authored the study, told me that it would likely take years for these numbers to reflect the toll on veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan.
“Generally, veterans don’t get in trouble immediately,” she said. “There’s usually a big gap between leaving the service and entering the criminal-justice system.”
Since the recession, a mercurial job market has made it difficult for many vets to find steady employment. While prospects for soldiers has improved recently, the employment rate for veterans remains stubbornly lower than the rate for nonveterans.
“Even if they can find a job, the kinds of employment available now don’t capture the skills our soldiers have developed,” said Dr. Judith Broder, the founder and director of the Soldiers Project, “They’ve gone from a situation where they’re at the top of their form to where it’s hard to find a place that honors them for what they’ve done.”
Creating a Caring for the Care Givers Community by serving those who serve
24-7Link.Com strives to serve as many community members as possible with the resources we have available – every individual is important to our organization and we will not discriminate against anyone. By offering services that are concentrated on serving those less fortunate and addressing the greatest needs of our target community, we can make a positive contribution in helping the individuals we work with lead a more fulfilling life.
Three Centers Front
This is a three-facet initiative. A three-way community service:
24-7 Link Community: A global moral based Community Center & School. With strong emphasis on Recidivism, Reentry to the community, Military, Reunion, PTSD, Veterans, Family & more.
Chaportway: Linking both the church with the society. Turning each church into a Practical Training Mission Institute (PTMI). Where the member become community volunteers trained and equipped to serve as provider of holistic care such as suicide prevention, PTSD triage for Military, Veteran and their family, etc.
Healthier Families: Combining our life experience, academics, and on the job training running a Retreat Center & School (RCS) where we serve the military, singles, family, Veterans, ex-convicts, etc. We provide a place and time to rest & recuperate, (R&R) learn, and recharge.
Our Team
Our activities are overseen by a group of well-qualified individuals. Our diverse staff members have ties to the community, and thus possess the unique ability to relate to the target demographic. Additionally, our Board of Directors is comprised of a professional group of talented individuals who are dedicated to committing their time and resources to building a stronger community.
Agency Staff:
- CEO (Chief Executive Director)
- CFO (Chief Financial Officer)
- Staff Director
- Psychiatrist
- CPE Supervisor
- Motivational speaker
- Outreach worker
