Eagle Rock Camp empowers military families to stay together. Operation Military Family Reset (OMFR) is a week-long therapeutic family retreat using a faith- and evidence-based curriculum with the goal of healing trauma, keeping military families intact, and averting suicide. OMFR is unique in that the whole family participates; the family is “wounded” together and must heal together. Certified Marriage and Family instructors are active military or veterans who establish trust and facilitate open communication. Volunteer retreat “alumni” who share the healing journey conduct age-appropriate workshops using therapeutic recreation, art therapy, and communication activities to break down defenses and create teambuilding.
Eagle Rock Camp’s proprietary retreat curriculum uses evidence-based principles grounded in a sociological approach. The program incorporates varied learning methodologies such as art therapy, small group interaction and role play. Instruction modules build family resilience and success in the areas of finance, self-care, parenting, communication, and healthy lifestyle choices.
Throughout the week, mindfulness and intentionality are woven into everything we do, including healthy eating, daily gratitude, stress relieving self-soothing, and meditation.
An overview of a typical week-long retreat agenda:
Day One: arrivals, tours, pre-retreat survey and introductions
Day Two: communication/relationship building (adults) and how to be a great kid/anti-bullying (youth); therapeutic outdoor recreation (all); art therapy/family game night (all)
Day Three: conflict resolution (adults and how to be a great kid part 2 (youth)); therapeutic outdoor recreation (dads/youth) and ladies tea party (moms); art therapy/family game night (all)
Day Four: financial literacy (separate modules for parents/youth); therapeutic outdoor recreation and family portraits (all); dinner date night (adults) and kids' dinner/movie night
Day Five: self-care/intentional living (separate modules for parents/youth); therapeutic outdoor recreation (all); talent night (all)
Day Six: introduction to after-care program/staying connected/resources and post-retreat surveys
Limiting each retreat to no more than ten families (50 people) creates an environment conducive to group sharing as well as providing the space for each family to individually interact and communicate. With six retreats planned for 2022, Eagle Rock Camp will serve up to 60 families and 250 people will benefit. The request of $30,000 from First Horizon would underwrite one OMFR retreat.
Eagle Rock Camp developed its programs through medical/behavioral health research and focus groups which identified proven healing methods for the psychological, moral, and spiritual wounds of war. Since the first military family retreat in 2013, Eagle Rock Camp has conducted 32 retreats, serving 144 families and over 700 individuals.
Our overarching objectives include:
a) Reduce financial stress by developing and implementing family financial plans that include specific approaches to budgeting, saving, spending, and giving.
b) Improve parenting skills and reduce divorce rates by using therapeutic recreation and experiential learning to strengthen familial bonds. (Our divorce rate two years post-retreat is 1.7% and 2.7% overall.)
c) Strengthen self-care and respect between family members, restore and improve their sense of hope, reduce suicide ideations resulting in zero suicides. (To date, 74% report an increased sense of HOPE for their family. We have 19 averted suicides, including one child.)
d) Close the civilian/military divide by developing communication tools to increase connectedness and support between communities. (81% of ERC families cite improved civilian community understanding.)
The impacts and outcomes of our week-long retreat reflect our overall organizational success metrics and tie back to our four areas of need:
(a) 87% decline in families who arrive at Eagle Rock in distress vs. program completion
(b) 40% of retreat participants reported improvement in marriage and family satisfaction, including a reduction in family physical/emotional/verbal abuse and decreased divorce rates. While this number seems low, there was a significant awareness in families that learned their sense of family satisfaction was actually not true. They clearly saw the true condition of their families and 100% of those, vowed to improve.
(c) Zero suicides.
(d) 61% of participants will report improved confidence in being connected to their community.
As part of Eagle Rock Camp’s strategic planning goals, we recognize that data-driven measures of program outcomes demonstrate to funders the impact of their investment and provide valuable information to refine our programs. Pre- and post-retreat surveys and quarterly surveys of past participants measure immediate and long-term outcomes.
Our program works. We save families; 97.3% of families served by Eagle Rock Camp remain together. We save lives; 19 averted suicides among program participants, including one spouse and one child, embolden our goal of maintaining zero deaths by suicide. Additional outcome metrics reveal an overall satisfaction with life in 78% of our families, 72% commit to apply financial readiness skills, and 78% commit to improve or implement effective self-care. Hope for the long-term success of their families is restored.
At the beginning of the retreat, OMFR participants typically rate their hope for their family’s success a zero, one, or two; by the end, their ratings are eight, nine, or ten.
Importantly, ERC’s work is trusted by the military community. The most telling metric, word of our success in saving families and saving lives has spread through the network of military families. Eagle Rock Camp has a wait list of over 800 families across the United States who wish to participate in the Operation Military Family Reset retreat. Clearly, the need exceeds ERC’s capacity to serve.
