'Operation Check-In' ensures veterans get the resources they need amid COVID-19

PHOENIX - In a world where we are alone together, leaders of the Wounded Warrior Project are feeling cautious.

“A lot of our warriors deal with isolation as it is based off their experiences and combat stress,” says Troy Heil, Combat Stress Recovery Specialist with Wounded Warrior Project.

The national nonprofit looks out for our soldiers and this week they’re launching a new initiative to keep those who served on the front lines on the front of our minds.

Heil explains, “The biggest question that we are hearing is when are we going to be able to start up the engagement piece again? When are we going to be able to have physical programs running again? And really that’s all up to the national, state, and local levels to decide when we can actually start those in person programs again. Is it frustrating to not be able to answer that question? It really is because even for myself and my teammates we want to know when we can get engaged with our warriors and family support members as well.”

Operation Check-In will help support areas of mental, physical, and financial health, as well as connection.

The latter of which is tough because of social distancing.

“Because we can’t run these physical programs anymore, we are building virtual programs to run them online. So that way we’re still getting that program peace to them," Heil says.

How tricky is it to do that? It’s a little bit of a struggle at this point because we like that, you know, physical interaction but it’s coming together.

For more information, visit https://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/