Healing Memories For Veterans in Minnesota

The Minnesota Healing of Memories organization began in 2008 as part of a grassroots effort, the Warrior to Citizen Campaign, which met to address veteran reintegration issues at the Humphrey Institute’s Center for Democracy and Citizenship. A sub group, the Healing of Memories Working Group was formed.

This working group represented a broad slice of the community—a representative of Center for Democracy and Citizenship; a spiritual director and Gulf War veteran; a Korean War veteran; the Director of the Minnesota Assistance Council for Veterans; an ELCA Diaconal Minister who is part of the Minneapolis Area Synod Coming Home Collaborative and co-author of Welcome Them Home Help Them Heal; and two Episcopal priests.

The group sponsored its first Healing of Memories workshop in October 2009 at the Benedictine Center in St. Paul., Minnesota and they have continued thereafter. Our sixth workshop was held in September 2012.

Many of the participants have been veterans living in transitional housing operated by the Minnesota Assistance Council for Veterans. Others are veterans of the Cold War through the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. While the first two workshops were only for veterans, the fall 2010 workshop was “open” and included clergy and spiritual directors who have veterans ministries in their congregations or who work with veterans.

Workshop attendees have felt a special bond of shared pain with Fr. Michael because of his bombing and subsequent disability. Some have attended more than one workshop and described the process as “peeling the onion of my pain.” Another said,

“Each time I sat down to draw it was different. Dark colors weren’t there in the second workshop and my picture had changed.”

Participants of the workshops have attended reunions as well. The reunions are an opportunity to catch up on how things have gone since the workshop. One veteran, who is now being trained as a facilitator, shared,

“I didn’t tell the same story twice because things had changed. Each time I left something there. That is the value of talking about it and being affirmed.”

Another workshop participant reflected,

“It was the first time I was able to see my life as a whole. I felt like I was being held and believed.”

Fr. Michael is continuing to train facilitators including veterans, clergy, and spiritual directors.