Warrior Testimonial: Braxton

Mr. and Mrs. Lannon and Mr. Spooner, My name is Braxton and I am one of the founding partners of (name of business is confidential) Inc. We are an asset management firm, specializing in hospitality space.

I am writing you today with regard to a newly admitted client of your organization, Mr. S. Mr. S is an employee of mine that I have assisted in seeking treatment from your operation.

While this email may seem premature, I would feel remiss for not sharing my feedback and recognizing members of your team based on my observations thus far.

Mr. S approached me about two weeks ago. It was very apparent that he was severely struggling with the challenges of life and his condition. As such, I immediately began researching inpatient treatment programs. I began with Google keyword searches for PTSD treatment facilities for veterans. I devoted the majority of three days calling approximately 24 facilities that I was able to identify.

I found this process to be quite disheartening. The vast majority of my calls were answered by answering services that were either not fully informed about the offerings of the programs they represented or, alternatively, quite ignorant to the methodology their programs took toward treatment.

The only portion of those conversations that proved more frustrating was the fact that nearly all of them began a rather high-pressure line of questioning regarding insurance coverage and availability of funds to pay for their programs. While this is obviously an important conversation to be had in the process, they all seemed to begin this discussion within the first 90 seconds of the call. I found this despicable and ultimately indicative of their motivations.

I then had the pleasure of calling Warriors Heart.

My call was answered by Ms. Linda LoPresto. It was almost immediately that I realized that Warrior’s Heart was different than the other programs that I had spoken with. Linda spent about 45 minutes with me on the phone on our initial conversation. She proved herself to be very well informed about the offerings, methodology and nuances of the program.

I was impressed by the fact that, on my initial phone call, not only was I not speaking to an answering service but that my call was actually answered by the Director of Admissions of the entire program. While I was already enamored by this interaction, it would pale in comparison to my impression of Linda and your program as the next two weeks progressed. She ended the call by reassuring me that, together, we could ‘bring him home’. That resonated with me immediately and I hung up feeling that I was finally on the right track after the last three days of frustrating interactions.

I took the information that Linda imparted on me and spoke with Mr. S. After some legwork to make sure his family would be able to make arrangements for his prolonged absence, he emphatically agreed to participate!

I spoke with Linda again, who was, in all honesty, as excited to hear the news as I was. Bearing in mind this all took place on a Saturday and Sunday, I was once again impressed how quickly she went to work. Within 24 hours, she had made contact with the insurance provider and confirmed coverage levels, confirmed availability in the program and began making arrangements for Mr. S to come on board.

She reached out to Mr. S and his parents and answered all of their questions and put them at ease through the entire process. She coordinated with the detox facility that Mr. S was in at the time to receive his medical records, arrange an exchange of information with their physicians and coordinate a transfer to WH. I was astounded how quickly and efficiently she worked to make this all happen. Linda is a tremendous individual whom I am so happy to have encountered.

Fast forward to arrival day. Due to an error on my part, we were delayed by a day. Once we finally arrived (on Saturday) Linda and Laura were there to greet us. Mr. S was struggling with his decision at this point, having just left his family and traveled to unfamiliar landscape, the look on his face was one of an overwhelming level of doubt that he had made the right decision. Linda, Rena, Laura and Jeremiah displayed a remarkable amount of professionalism and compassion. They recognized that Mr. S was struggling with the impulse to leave and return home. As such, they took it step by step, gave him his space and by the end, the process took nearly the entire day. Not once did they attempt to hurry the situation along.

As the day progressed, Jeremiah conducted the admissions search of Mr. S’s belongings. He did this in a very non-threatening manner that illustrated his compassion and understanding for the fact that this could be a very uncomfortable process. He clearly explained the operational policies of the facility, gave us a thorough tour and made introductions to everyone on property. (I must say that your kitchen was one of the cleanest and most well maintained commercial kitchens that I have ever seen!) He conducted himself in a very professional manner while also making S feel welcome and comfortable. He got S teamed up with a battle buddy and explained the schedule for the upcoming few days. He did an excellent job at making the situation feel lighter than Mr. S had made it out to be in his mind.

Rena and Vonnie sat with Mr. S and began to ascertain the reasons for his apprehension. Both were very forthright about the fact that they understood that this is a difficult decision, but that the treatment was necessary to getting him on a path to wellness. They both empathetically shared their own experiences in life and began a dialogue that allowed Mr. S to feel comfortable about the fact that they both understood his position.

Rena immediately recognized that the pattern of behavior that S was exhibiting was going to require the assistance of medication. She reached out to Dr. Butts and the other clinicians on your team and began formulating a plan of action. She acted expeditiously and efficiently as she recognized the sense of urgency in the situation. She did a tremendous job in coordinating the efforts of the clinical staff and coming up with a plan to assist in the situation. I was, once again, truly impressed by Rena as well.

As the day came to a close, S was still struggling to come to terms with the idea of staying. We went for a walk to discuss how he was feeling and see if we could calm his nerves. We took a stroll down the air strip and came across Bryce. I was, once again, very impressed by this interaction. He took the time to explain the history of the program and what motivated you all to begin this journey. He then began a dialogue with S to ascertain his reasoning for his apprehension. He listened and offered feedback to reassure him that his decision to seek treatment was a sound one and that he had selected the best place to facilitate this.

Overall, I must say that I am thoroughly impressed by the professionalism, compassion and and empathy of the team that you have assembled. Everyone we encountered displayed a genuine care and understanding of the clients and did what each of them could to assist. It is very apparent that they all have their client’s best interest at heart.

I am very excited to see what the next 8 weeks will bring for Mr. S. I have great hope that this process will bring about the change that is necessary for him to choose a better path for himself and his family. I could not be more comfortable with your organization, based on what I have seen thus far.

Thank you all very much for embarking on this journey and for creating this organization. The amount of thought, planning and care that you have devoted to the creation of Warrior’s Heart has not gone unnoticed. I hope to meet the three of you in person when I return to Bring Him Home!