The Sanctuary for Veterans & Families is a non-profit initiative that provides advocacy, support, and Sanctuary Weekends for women veterans, wives of veterans, and their loved ones.
Help us keep America’s promise to support the troops and care for this nation’s veterans by making a tax-deductible contribution today.
"A nation that does not take care of its veterans
has got
no business whatsoever making new ones."
--- Stacy Bannerman,
After Half a Year on the Hill: What I Know For Sure, April, 2007
Sanctuary WeekendsTM
The Sanctuary Weekend retreats are spearheaded by women veterans or wives of combat veterans, and co-facilitated by female counselors, advocates, and practitioners who are friends and family members of veterans, and have years of personal, professional, and practical experience supporting women with ties to the Armed Services. These gender-specific programs address the unique challenges and realities of women affected by war, who often struggle with a lack of peer and social support, secondary trauma or military sexual trauma, and the caregiver burden endured by wives of combat veterans.
We provide the women who serve at home and in harm's way a refuge to rest, heal, and connect with other women who have walked in their shoes while learning self-care and stress-management skills, and gaining tools to help restore a sense of emotional, physical, and spiritual wellness.
If you would like to schedule a Sanctuary Weekend in your state, request a speaker, or have questions or comments, please contact our Project Director, Stacy Bannerman, at 253-217-2153 or stacy@stacybannerman.com.
Women veterans connect at Sanctuary Weekend.
Women who went to a Sanctuary Weekend said:
"This retreat would have given me a reason to live in my first year after the deployment.”
“My husband stated, ‘WOW, something happened over the weekend, you are relaxed and I don't know how to describe it. It's like you found yourself.’”
“I feel connected in a way I have not experienced prior to the military.”
Legislative Issues & Agenda
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Military Family Leave: We successfully spearheaded state and national legislative campaigns for military family leave, resulting in passage of Oregon H.B. 2744, and introduction of the federal Military Family Leave Act of 2009 by Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), and Congressman Adam Smith (D-WA), a House Armed Services Subcommittee chairman, in July of 2009.
The Military Family Leave Act of 2009 allows those whose family members have received notification of impending active military duty to spend time with and support their family members by giving them two weeks un-paid leave prior to and after deployment. Under provisions added to Family and Medical Leave Act by the FY08 National Defense Authorization Act, parents, children, and spouses of military personnel are allowed 12 weeks of leave if a family member is notified of impending active duty. However, as is the case with all FMLA scenarios, it excludes many people such as those who work part time or are employed by a company with fewer than 50 employees. This bill would create two workweeks of unpaid military family leave for employees of all stripes. (From the office of Senator Ron Wyden, D-OR).
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Women Veterans: We support the Women Veterans Health Care Improvement Act of 2009, introduced by Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), and are advocating for an expansion of programs and services for women veterans, including gender-specific reintegration retreats and help for victims of Military Sexual Trauma.
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Health Effects of Burn Pits: According to a leaked military document, the Pentagon knowingly exposed US troops at Balad Airbase to cancer-causing toxic chemicals, while publicly downplaying the risks of exposure. The report details the health hazards posed to US troops in Iraq, and identifies various carcinogens released by burning waste in open-air pits. A military document revealed that chemicals routinely exceeded safe levels by two to six times. We are seeking a Congressional investigation into this issue, and demand that appropriate screening, care, benefits, and services be provided to our soldiers who were stationed at LSA Anaconda.
Thank you for helping us keep America’s promise to care for this nation’s veterans and military families by making a tax-deductible contribution today.
History & Purpose
The Sanctuary for Veterans & Families was founded in 2007 by current Executive Director Stacy Bannerman and military family members of troops who had served or were serving in Iraq and Afghanistan and veterans. Recognizing that military families and veterans needed resources outside of military command, and a voice in the public conversation and political dialogue, we mobilized into volunteer peer support networks and created ad hoc advocacy groups to promote specific issues and legislation. Through the early stages of development, the project helped bring to the forefront the issues facing military families and returning veterans, with a particular focus on the forgotten veterans e.g. women and the Guard/Reserve.
After years of bearing the burdens of the war at home, advocating for our troops, and caring for our veterans, we became worried about the toll the war was taking on the families left behind, particularly the wives of combat veterans.
We were also increasingly concerned with the lack of services and support for women veterans, and the escalating rates of military sexual abuse. We were troubled by the fractures in military families; the physical, psychological, career, family, and financial stress - and distress - that combat deployments create for military wives; and alarmed at the rapid rise of domestic violence suffered by the women who love veterans.
There are a lot of veterans, pundits, and politicians talking about the wars, and how better to care for the troops who have been deployed, but virtually all of them are male. None of them are veterans of the war at home, or caring for a combat veteran of the war in Iraq or Afghanistan. Very few are one of America's forgotten women veterans, struggling to have their service and post-service needs recognized and addressed. Women veterans and wives of combat veterans, and the issues they face, have been mostly invisible.
The Sanctuary for Veterans & Families helps the women who serve and sacrifice on behalf of the United States Armed Services claim their rightful place in the conversation about the human costs of war, and provides them refuge and support, whether their duty was on the home front or on the front lines.
Our Goals
- Direct Support and Services: To provide Sanctuary WeekendsTM for veterans and military family members dealing with the strain of deployment(s), and the trauma of war.
- Research and Education: To conduct research on the psychological impact of combat in women veterans and military families and publish and disseminate findings. Provide education, training, and multimedia materials for affected individuals, communities, caregivers, stakeholders and the general public.
- Policy and Advocacy: To advocate on behalf of veterans and military families and promote policies for improved prevention, care, and treatment of the invisible wounds of war, including: secondary trauma in military family members, caregiver burden in wives of combat veterans, and military sexual trauma in women veterans.
Founder & Director
Stacy L. Bannerman, M.S., is the creator and Director of Sanctuary WeekendsTM, founding Executive Director of Sanctuary One and the Sanctuary for Veterans & Families. She has been deeply engaged in the non-profit and education arenas for 19 years as an executive, instructor, and consultant, and as a volunteer advocate for the troops, veterans, and military families since 2003. She has created numerous flagship programs for women, including two programs for victims of domestic abuse, and a Continuing Care project for women offenders that resulted in less than 10% recidivism after three years of programming. In 2006, she testified before the House Appropriations Sub-Committee on Military Quality of Life and Veterans Affairs, and in 2008 she testified before the House Veterans Affairs Sub-Committee on Health on the Mental Health Impacts of Deployment on Families of Iraq War Veterans. Ms. Bannerman is a military family member, and has met with over 60 Senators and Congressmen, calling for improved veteran and family benefits, comprehensive post-combat mental health care, and legislation to establish a Military Family Leave Act. She recently received the Patriotic Employer Award from the National Guard Commission for the Employer Support of the Guard & Reserve
The Sanctuary WeekendTM Team
Susan Avila-Smith is the founder of Vet WOW (Women Organizing Women: Veteran Advocacy for Women Who Served in the Military) http://www.vetwow.com. For the past 13 years, Susan has provided peer mentoring, education, advocacy, and support for military women, and assisted victims of military rape or trauma obtain needed medical and psychological care, and VA benefits. Susan has served more than 1,500 clients, and works to educate the public and politicians about Military Sexual Trauma (MST) while calling for VA benefits for survivors. She served in the US ARMY as a Chinese linguist for four years, experienced multiple traumas, and found the system to be broken.
Amber Elizabeth Gray, MPH, MA, LPCC, ADTR, NCC, Ph.D. Candidate, Restorative Resources/Trauma Resources International has worked with survivors of both civilian war trauma and combat stress for many years. As one of her contracts, Ms. Gray established the Trauma & Resiliency Program for the Raven Drum Foundation. She has also established treatment programs for victims of war, torture and violence nationally and internationally, most recently in Albuquerque, New Mexico and Port au Prince, Haiti. Under Ms, Gray's leadership, these programs have provided multi-modal, comprehensive services for survivors of traumatic events. Ms. Gray has worked as a clinician, program director, trainer and consultant for over 12 years with programs serving survivors of political torture and violence, war, and combat, and as a health professional in post conflict environments since 1985. She is a licensed mental health professional, a registered dance movement therapist, a drummer and a public health professional. Amber integrates movement, breath work, mindfulness practice, drumming, and ceremony into the therapeutic process.
Sara Rich, MSW, Ms. Rich received her Master's degree in Social Work from Portland State University, and is a social worker and family therapist in private practice. She has served as a Chaplain at Unity of the Valley for two years, is on the Board of Directors for the Trauma Healing Project. Sara is perhaps best known as the mother of Army Specialist Suzanne Swift, who was court marshaled after refusing redeployment to Iraq. Specialist Swift served in Iraq from February 2004- February 2005 with the 66th Military Police Co. based in Fort Lewis, Washington. Spec. Swift was diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Military Sexual Trauma, and faced up to a year in prison. Legal appeals followed, and Ms. Rich has been an advocate for her daughter and others nationwide, conducting hundreds of multimedia interviews. Her story has appeared in The New York Times magazine, The Washington Post and The San Francisco Chronicle.
Peace may exceed our grasp, but sanctuary is in our hands.
