WW CONSULTING SOLUTIONS INC

We will help tackle the drug and mental health care epidemic plaguing our local Veteran population through using art, creativity and other expressive means and creating a free maker’s space for Veterans. The key is face-to-face sessions with the Veterans we serve. We desperately need a space where Veterans can heal, and also to educate people of all walks of life on PTSD and Moral Injury.

With a population of merely 37k people, Dare County, NC, has a significant veteran population. 2,610 known veterans live in the county. The nearest VA Medical Facility with mental health is in Hampton, VA, which is a 4- to 5-hour drive from the southern part of the county. Furthermore, the county has one of highest rates of drug overdoses in NC. This community is literally hemorrhaging the lives of its citizens, nearly 8 percent of which are veterans, due to addiction and lack of available medical and mental health care.
The Creative SPOT is using a community-based program to build resiliency and overcome trauma through creativity, art, poetry, music, and making. We are the only place in eastern NC with a functional BW film darkroom. We provide space, equipment and collaboration in areas not-limited-to, but including: film and digital photography, video art, sound art, drawing, painting, paper-making, poetry and spoken word, music, and have the capacity to provide other resources necessary to support creativity. With proper funding and support, we will be able to reach more Veterans to provide a safe space and tools to create.

Our program will give Veterans a place where they can choose to meet a new tribe and collaborate, or work alone and process trauma. No matter what each Veteran decides, we are here to support them in recovery using art, creativity and expression. Our work will be implemented and work conducted hands-on, and in-person, so we will have face-to-face sessions with the Veterans we serve.

We stood up in 2021, but could not provide face-to-face services due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. Sadly, after 12 months of paying rent in a studio space out of pocket, we had to close. Since then we have been key to resiliency events for wounded servicemembers and Veterans. With a staff of only two members, each earned Gold Presidential Volunteer Service Awards in 2022 and 2023.

We are committed to supporting Veterans though free-thinking and expression. We ignite enlightenment and growth, along with supporting positive change for our community. We believe in the power of imagination, the potential of all individuals, and the importance of bringing together a collaborative community. With art as the center of our vision, we desire a maker’s space where people of all walks of life can have a space for safe expression and inclusion. The space is also used to educate people on PTSD, while also providing a venue to use art and creativity as a resiliency and coping tool.

About the founder:

The idea for The Creative SPOT began while Kevin was undergoing Art Therapy at Walter Reed and Fort Belvoir. It was reinforced while he was earning a Master of Fine Arts degree at George Mason University. He said, “After years of taking 126 medicines prescribed by the DoD and VA to cope with morale injury, PTSD and suicide attempts, I eventually found art therapy to be the singularly successful approach; it allowed me to reduce nearly all medications. In total I was diagnosed with 158 different injuries/illnesses during my military service, but most notably I was shot with a RPG, hit with an IED blast, was shot, and have suffered burn and shrapnel wounds, back trauma, two TBIs, nerve damage, hearing loss, and internal lung damage. My MFA journey became a deep intrinsic quest for self-realization, growth and healing.”

In his own words: “Like many, I was prepared to lay down my life for my country each time I shipped off to war. There were a few times when I genuinely believed the cost would be my life, but, sadly it has turned out to be much more. The sacrifices paid in combat cannot be quantified in dollars or time, but are counted in tears shed by those who love and support us while we are downrange or healing back at home. I’m considered a ‘wounded warrior’, and I am not ashamed to admit it. I’m a Purple Heart recipient and earned a Bronze Star with Valor device. With all of that secured in a shadow-box, it’s more about what we are doing with The Creative SPOT now!”

“Ok, on the outside I look just like any other man and relish in that. However, something nearly always feels different. I am typically withdrawn and often emotionally numb. I find solace and therapy in art; and I love the free expression I can create with it. We want to use our own experiences to help others. There are too many suffering out there, and right here in our own community. We need this place!”

Kevin is credited with saving the lives of his entire platoon when, after being wounded by an RPG, he returned to engage Taliban fighters in close proximity, running through direct enemy heavy machine gun fire three times to verify enemy flanking positions and eliminate multiple insurgents. During a separate dismounted reconnaissance patrol, his team came under enemy small-arms fire. Kevin engaged the enemy while returning fire, forcing the enemy to break contact. He then provided covering fire for his team’s JTAC, allowing him to coordinate CAS and safe egress.

He retired in 2018 as the most combat-decorated in his career field, and from the highest and most prestigious position, the Public Affairs Officer for the Air Force One mission. He earned a Ph.D. in 2020. He is currently serving as the Dare County Veterans’ Advisory Council vice-chairman, and as a member of the Town of Manteo Board of Adjustment.

During that journey I encountered people facing scrutiny for identity, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation and a myriad of other motives. Yet a common thread was they were all using art and creativity to express themselves in ways that transcended written/spoken language. It was during that turbulent time that I realized there are so many people who deal with trauma and use creativity as a coping tool. I felt a deep and personal calling to create a space to help others. I took it upon myself to create a non-profit organization in Manteo. While there is plentiful opportunity for artistic exploration and creativity on the Outer Banks, I found a free collaborative location was lacking, so began to create this Manteo-based art and visionary collaboration space where people of all walks of life can have a space for safe expression and inclusion. The space is also used to educate people on moral injury and PTSD, while also providing a venue to use art and creativity as a resiliency and coping tool.