Friendships are finally getting their due. Once relegated to a distant third position after life partners and children, a spate of new books are spotlighting the importance of friends. And research shows that people with close friends are healthier – both emotionally...
Purpose Prize
The Latest from CoGenerate
An Intergenerational Approach to Getting Families Housed in Santa Barbara
Lyiam Galo is the co-director of Generations United for Service, a program of the Northern Santa Barbara County United Way and one of 10 awardees of the CoGen Challenge to Advance Economic Opportunity. Watch for interviews with all 10 of these innovators bringing...
Utilizing Faith-Owned Land to Strengthen Intergenerational Community in Seattle
E.N. West is the co-founder and lead organizer of the Faith Land Initiative of the Church Council of Greater Seattle, one of 10 awardees of the CoGen Challenge to Advance Economic Opportunity. Watch for interviews with all 10 of these innovators bringing older and...
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Ken Reich
Purpose Prize Fellow 2009
Darwin and Reich coordinate free psychological counseling to families of U.S. Army Reserve and National Guard members deployed in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Kuwait.
Jaine Darwin, former president of the American Psychological Association’s Division of Psychoanalysis, and Kenneth Reich, former president of the Psychoanalytic Couples and Family Institute of New England, recognize the potential devastating impact on families of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. That insight led them in 2004 to form Strategic Outreach to Families of All Reservists, which provides free psychological support and related services to relatives. Darwin and Reich feel that while the stress a family faces during deployment can be overwhelming, the difficulties relatives encounter when soldiers return are often just as profound. The organization addresses the increasing problem of suicide by offering educational programs to train family members to identify veterans at risk. Volunteer mental health professionals lead family support sessions; provide individual counseling services; and refer family members to other licensed professionals outside the organization’s network if additional assistance is needed. SOFAR volunteers have interacted with approximately 10,000 family members of soldiers and veterans. Says Reich: “We have the constant satisfaction of the gratitude we hear expressed by the families with whom we work. This doesn’t pay the bills, but it certainly feeds our souls.”