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Charity Gala: A Night Under The Northern Lights
May 27, 2022 @ 7:00 pm - 10:00 pm EDT
$50 – $155
About this event
How are TruthMapVets and Jon Horford Helping The Veteran Community?
There are 634,000 veterans in Michigan, representing 8.8% of the state’s total adult population.
Every day 22 veterans succumb to suicide in the U.S. Jon Horford (Michigan House of Representatives 77th District) and TruthMapVets have decided to tackle this issue head-on by organizing a charity gala to raise money for multiple Michigan charities.
Founded by J. Greene and Holly Nelson, TruthMap Vets is an organization dedicated to raising funds for veteran causes. James resigned his position as an Anti-terrorism Officer with the Department of Defense in 2018 and began the long journey back to civilization. He was one of many who struggled acclimating to civilian life.
The self-sacrifice required to live a life dedicated to the protection of one’s community from violent offenders is often lost on the masses. Our organization knows the strife that the veteran community experiences. Often suffering in silence, they don’t get the adequate attention they deserve for the sacrifices they’ve endured. There’s a saying that goes, “it’s better to be a warrior in a garden, than a gardener in a war”, but we wonder how many stop to consider the warrior’s perspective.
You see, the life of the gardener is one founded in love. This life requires nurture, patience, and tender care. For the gardener, their purpose in the community is clear and accepted by all as moral and necessary. But the warrior dedicates their life to mastering chaos, pushing boundaries, and disciplining the heart and mind in anticipation for intense fear – and ultimately victory at all costs.
Being disconnected from civility, and thus in many ways disconnected from compassion and love, veterans are left wondering what their purpose is. Having retired from their life’s purpose with still many years of living to go, the collective morale of these individuals drops significantly. The hope of this gala is to connect local political leaders with organizations that provide mental health support, service dog training, housing initiatives, and vocational rehabilitation and much more to incentivize a more proactive approach to serving the veteran community.
James Greene & Holly Nelson
James served two tours of duty for Global War on Terrorism (GWOT) as an Anti-terrorism Specialist. He continued his career as a civilian contractor, working as a Weapons Based Instructor both in a schoolhouse and for operational private security forces.
Holly grew up in Haiti and The Dominican Republic as the daughter to missionaries who provided medical, surgical, and educational services. James now runs SwoleConnect – a personal development firm. Holly is a behavioral scientist and the CEO of TruthMap (a mental health company).
They are both community and service-oriented people who want nothing more than to change the world, and that starts by helping people help themselves.
Charitable Organizations
Veteran Service Dog Organization
James has a disability due to his time as a service-connected member. He met Kirk when he was looking to find an organization that would train his puppy, Gunner!
VSDO is on a mission to provide Service Animals to US Military Veterans. Through the hard work, dedication, and passionate care of their trainers and providers, they are able to train both the service animal and the Veteran. The training of each dog is tailored to the Veteran in need. They train the dogs to assist with disabilities such as: PTSD, TBI, Panic Disorders, Physical Disabilities, Bipolar Disorder, Seizures, Diabetes, and many more.
You can visit their website here: https://vsdo.us/
Warriors Road
This organization has attracted celebrities like Jake Paul (professional boxer and famous YouTuber) amongst a host of other notables. Trail rides through the Los Angeles mountains provide the cash flow to sustain the business so that they can provide equine therapy to military veterans. Founded by Navy veteran Andre Andrews, the mission of Warriors Road is to teach our nation’s heroes how to care for a horses well being, while the horses teach them how to heal their hearts.
James has a unique experience with equine therapy. His mother owns a group of rescued horses and gifted James a beautiful (yet stubborn) black horse named Beauty. James explains that horses are bigger than the average male, so a veteran can’t dominate them. Furthermore, horses are extremely emotionally intelligent, so if you approach them with an aggressive nature, they do not respond kindly. This interesting dichotomy creates an environment where a veteran is forced to get ahold of their emotional responses and practice extreme patience in an attempt to train and care for the horse.
Warriors road was gracious enough to host us in LA at the beginning of this year where they coordinated a horseback ride for Holly and James on the sidewalk of the Sunset Strip!
Visit their website here: https://vsdo.us/
TruthMapVets & TruthMap
8 weeks virtual and 1 week in-person retreat
It only took a global pandemic to push Mental Health to the forefront of the conversation. And TruthMap is prepared to meet that need. TruthMap is developing a mental health program in conjunction with Warriors Road specifically tailored to veterans.
Over the course of 14 months, 100 Veterans (10 at a time) will enter the program and receive 4-weeks of 1:1 emotional wellness coaching. They will then be paired with a professional athlete and will be flown to LA to complete a 5-day retreat with the Warriors Road equine therapy program. The athlete and the veteran will work on the ranch, take trail rides through the mountains, and will then complete a 3-day mental health intensive along with equine therapy. We will help them create a plan for their physical wellness and nutrition, and provide vocational coaching. Then, they will follow that up with 4 more weeks of virtual 1:1 90-minute sessions with their emotional wellness facilitator and life coach.
Visit their website here: https://truthmap.co/
Who Is Jon Horford?
Jon owns multiple small businesses with his wife, Cristina. A graduate of Grand Ledge High School and a former college and professional basketball player, Jon has dedicated thousands of volunteer hours coaching and mentoring young athletes in the Lansing Area.
He co-chairs Grand Ledge United, is vice-chair of the Young Eaton County Democrats, serves on the Michigan Black Leadership Advisory Council Health Committee, and is a former vice-chair of the Eaton County Parks and Recreation Commission.
Jon earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan, his master’s degree from the University of Florida, and is a 2021 graduate of the Michigan Political Leadership Program through Michigan State University.
