(Note: this podcast was recorded in December, 2014)

November and December bring multiple holidays and celebrations, one or several of which find participation by nearly every U.S. citizen.  It's a time for reflection, for thankfulness, for kindness and generosity, for family and friends.  For many, it's a time that brings anxiety, frustration, and myriad reminders of misfortune, mistreatment, and challenges.  This is particularly true for our veterans.  The National Coalition for Homeless Veterans, with data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, estimates that approximately 50,000 veterans are homeless on any given night. (Let that roll around in your head.)  I took a look at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's information regarding uninsured veterans and family members and found the following: In 2010, an estimated 1.3 million veterans and nearly 950,000 members of their families were uninsured. (It's unclear where those numbers stand today, even with recent medicaid expansions of the Affordable Healthcare Act, but it doesn't seem to be appreciably better, and may indeed be worse.)  All sources I can find indicated that somewhere in the vicinity of 20 - 30 veterans commit suicide daily.

On this episode of the D2D podcast, we discuss charity, service, and several organizations that are doing wonderful things in a larger system and society that seems to be failing our veterans in every way.  Jennifer found a fantastic organization, HandUp.  In their own words, "HandUp is a direct giving system for homeless people and neighbors in need. It allows you to donate directly to a HandUp member via their web profile. 100% of your donation goes directly to a member’s HandUp account. Members then work with their case manager at our partner organizations to pay for basic needs like housing, medical care and technology."  She hooked in to a young man, Aaron, who wants to heal his PTSD and maintain a healthy lifestyle after having served honorably for 8 years.

Jen and I also volunteer with Team RWB.  RWB's mission is, quite simply and beautifully, to enrich the lives of America’s veterans by connecting them to their community through physical and social activity.  Building community.  Re-integrating veterans into their communities and connecting communities with the heroes among us.

I realize this all seems quite serious...and it is.  I so often get lost in the big picture, the fact that we have simply failed our veterans.  We. Republican.  Democrat.  Christian. Jew. Black. White. At the federal level.  State by state.  In the mainstream media. In every community.  Jen often has to drag me out of my frustrated birds-eye view where I stare at a seemingly dying, disconnected forest...and show me beautiful trees and ecosystems that are stunning and awesome.

And in these moments, I see that it's about finding joy, building community, and serving our families, friends, communities, and for me, any human within my reach...with open, mindful, grateful hearts.  And humor.  Laughter really is the best medicine (and edible cannabis, that's pretty awesome medicine as well)...it's power amplified exponentially when it happens among people we love and appreciate and who love and appreciate us.  Enjoy...and may all your Christmas's be white. (Or wet and warm, if you happen to live in Western Pennsylvania.)