Heroes Helping Heroes

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The tranquil area of St. Simons Island may seem like an unlikely home for a founder of a nationwide program that has saved over 3,000 lives, but once you meet Dave Sharpe and his wife, Jenny, you will learn just how Companions for Heroes is directly improving, and even saving, the lives of our shelter animals and our nation’s heroes.

Both veterans of the United States Air Force, the Sharpes are among the ranks of our nation’s heroes who bravely served and protected our freedom and way of life. But upon returning from war and service to our country, they realized that reintegrating into “normal” life was proving to be challenging; they both had experienced personal traumas that seriously affected their personal relationships and their psychological well being. When Dave’s struggle became too much for him to bear and he found himself on the brink of suicide, another unlikely hero came to his rescue—a tiny pit bull puppy named Cheyenne, whom Dave had adopted from a rescue organization just three months earlier. Cheyenne became a confidant with whom Dave could express his emotions and share his pain, without fear of judgment or misunderstanding. And so it was, Dave and Cheyenne actually saved each other, and out of what could have been a tragic ending, a beautiful and purposeful idea was born.

In 2009, Dave Sharpe founded Companions for Heroes (C4H), a 501(c)3 non-profit organization which pairs shelter and rescued animals with active duty military and military veterans as well as first responders (police/fire/EMS/trauma nurses and doctors), with hopes that these heroes, who may be suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI) and other psychological stresses, may form a similarly supportive and loving bond with an animal friend. Dave said at the time of founding, “My shelter dog is the sole reason I am here today. Furthermore, my dog has allowed me to grow close relationships with my family and friends. I believe other veterans can benefit from the same type of companionship.”

C4H’s mission is to ensure that financial barriers do not prevent prospective adoptions from going through, and also to follow up with the paired Heroes and their rescue pets to ensure the partnership gets off to a positive start. C4H covers adoption costs, veterinary fees, pet supplies and even training services in hopes of building strong bonds between the Heroes and their new companions. To date, C4H has assisted in the pairing of over 1500 heroes with sheltered and rescued animals that would otherwise spend their lives in shelters, or be euthanized. Which means that over 3000 lives have been saved, or at least dramatically improved, thanks to the tireless efforts of the Sharpes and the C4H team.

In 2016, C4H began to focus more than ever on female veterans and the traumas they endure from service to our country. Like her husband, Jenny (currently a Registered Nurse who is pursuing her Master’s as a Nurse Practitioner) is a military veteran of the U.S. Air Force who served our country for 12 years. She enlisted in the Air Force as a Special Operations Communications Specialist and then changed careers to fly our nation’s top leadership as a Flight Attendant; serving on Air Force 2 as part of Vice President Dick Cheney’s Staff and for several other high-ranking U.S. officials including Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Colin Powell, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton. In 2007, Jenny volunteered to deploy to Balad, Iraq to serve as an U.S. Air Force Security Forces’ detailee going on patrols outside the wire armed with a M-4 semi-automatic rifle with 240 rounds of ammunition and a Berretta M-9 pistol attached to her battle dress uniform, providing security for U.S. personnel and providing personal security services to the high-ranking officials who commanded the operations in Iraq. A high stress position, for sure, especially for a woman.

Jenny and Dave met and the two were married in January 2011. They spent eight months apart from each other with Dave located in Washington D.C. serving our country as part of the U.S. Intelligence community and Jenny stationed with the Air Force at Ramstein Air Base, Germany. Following that separation, Jenny decided to end her tenure in the military to join Dave in Washington, D.C. An unanticipated side effect of that was that Jenny immediately began to experience the difficult adjustment to civilian life and the hardships of reintegrating into society after a military career. At that point, five months pregnant with their son, Dax, Jenny found herself often home alone while Dave travelled or was working 10-12 hour days. She began to become depressed and frustrated, contemplating how to choose her next career. Jenny endured severe anxiety from this, “I remember spending many restless nights, tossing and turning, wondering how I was going to begin my new life out of the military, but more importantly, I was in fear of choosing the career and then failing at it. The fear of failure is what created the deep issues for me.”

Unfortunately, this is a reoccurring theme from, not only our female veterans, but all veterans. The fear of failure in making the right decision, which, for some heroes, is the first decision they’ve had to make on their own. Most military personnel are given orders and must follow those orders. However, C4H’s staff has learned from post-adoption follow ups with its heroes, that making the decision to adopt a dog or cat and choosing their animal with the help of the animal experts at the rescues and shelters, has been a life-changing decision for its veterans and leads to good decisions thereafter. C4H Executive Director Eric Basek explains, “We’ve learned that when a hero applies for our services, he or she is very concerned about their future and is scared to make a decision post-military life. With the hero being an integral part of the decision process regarding selecting their animal, the praise that follows from their family or friends about how cute their dog or cat is, or how sweet the dog or cat are, provides validation to the hero that they made a good decision. Positive reinforcement of that decision leads to other major decisions that turn to be very good such as going back to school, obtaining a job and even being a volunteer for C4H to share their experience for the next hero seeking help where they once were. It’s simply amazing!”

The Sharpes’ passion and enthusiasm for this important cause is incredibly moving, and serves as a poignant reminder that out of darkness there is light, and with faith and conviction anything is possible. Their heroism didn’t end with their military service—rather, it truly began there, and continues to this day. Our little community on St. Simons Island is better for having admirable and inspirational neighbors such as these.

This locally based, nationally recognized effort to afford critical support to our service members and first responders while also saving countless animals from the heartbreaking scourge of shelters and euthanasia, could use your support. Companions For Heroes’ current goal is to raise $50,000 to help 33 heroes and animals in our local area to become productive members of our society and have a better life. The average cost per hero-animal adoption is $1,500. All donations are 100% tax deductible, and 92% of your donation goes directly to the Heroes being assisted with adoption costs. Please visit companionsforheroes.org to learn more about their mission, read additional success stories and, if you are able, make a donation. If you have friends and family who support Veterans’ issues and/or animal rescue, please consider making a gift in their honor. The website also has information about holiday gift giving and In Honor/In Memoriam gifting. Your support will help local community members, US Veterans, and homeless animals, it’s a gift that truly keeps giving.