News...

August 2008

Site visits to Palo Alto VA Healthcare System and Travis Air Force Base Fisher Houses will the mark launch of two more veterans and caregivers programs at these two facilities.

July 2008

TOR partner Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund agreed to donate four more massage chairs to Fisher House programs in Honolulu, HI and Palo Alto, CA. Earthlite, another TOR partner, has already provided special pricing for TOR purchased equipment and collaborated w/ IMSFF to equip the two programs.

June 2008

Program successfully begins at Ft. Lewis with volunteer massage therapists from inside the army installation who are spouses of active service members. They plan to work with residents and staff once a month with more days as the massage team expands. TOR's domestic violence shelter program is now operating in all three shelters in Washington DC and are all fully staffed. Talks to expand this much needed project to other cities is underway.

MAY 2008

Biotone Professional Massage & Spa Therapy Products announced a partnership with TOR in their Summer 2008 Catalog. Plans are underway for Biotone to support TOR programs in southern California.

TOR finalized plans to launch a massage therapy program with the Ft. Lewis Fisher House located just south of Tacoma, WA.

APRIL 2008

April 15. TOR was invited to make a presentation at the annual Fisher House Manager's Conference in Orlando. Information packets were given to each manager consisting of all components needed to start at Volunteer Massage Therapy Program for their residents. Talks included planning for program launches in Honolulu, Seattle, Dayton, Denver, Palo Alto, West Palm Beach, and other sites.

March 2008

TOR officially set up operations overseas by starting a massage therapy program at Fisher Houses based at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, Germany.

March 10. Earthlite, the #1 manufacturer of massage tables based in Vista, CA, agreed to a partnership with TOR and committed to donating a Luna table and pneumatic stool to TOR's Fisher House program in Landstuhl, Germany.

February 2008

TOR is profiled in the article entitled "My Hero" by JoAnn Milivojevic in the Spring 2008 issue of Massage Therapy Journal/MTJ ("massage therapists answer the call of service to nation and lend a hand to those helping our country", p. 52). MTJ is published four times a year by the American Massage Therapy Association and is regarded as a leading journal in the field of massage therapy.

JANUARY 2008

January 20. Twenty-three MTs attended the orientation for the Massage Therapy program at Walter Reed Mologne House (Washington, DC). It was held at Potomac Massage Training Institute in Washington, D.C. where TOR team members Jaime Bernardo, Mike Duggan and Mary Contreras presented to the enthusiastic group of volunteers. The next regularly scheduled massage day is this Sunday, the 27th, when these new volunteers will have the first opportunity to serve military families.

January 8. TOR launched the domestic violence program by giving a presentation and providing seated massage to the staff of My Sister's Place in Washington, D.C.. Site visits of the various shelters and resident workshops will begin at the end of the month.

TOR presents a Certificate of Appreciation to Sondria Saylor from the Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund for the donation of two massage chairs for the massage therapy program launched on December 19th at Naval Medical Center San Diego. From L to R: Mary Contreras (TOR founder), Sondria Saylor (Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund), Belle Esposito (Fisher House Manager), Jaime Bernardo (TOR founder), Christine Jones (Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund).

2007

December 19. TOR launched its third Fisher House Massage Therapy Program at Naval Medical Center San Diego (NMCSD). Like Brooke Army Medical Center Fisher Houses in San Antonio, this program will commence as a volunteer service in order to make an immediate impact on residents and their families recovering from severe war injuries and attempting to rebuild their lives. Funding for both programs will actively be sought once they are fully and consistently operational.

October 27. BAMC Fisher House Massage Therapy Program was launched in San Antonio, TX. On their second site visit to the “flagship” Fisher House, Jaime and Mary met with six local massage therapists who committed to starting a volunteer program. The 52-room, four building complex, next to the state-of-the-art Center for the Intrepid rehabilitative facility, houses the most critically wounded veterans and their families. Inge Godrey, the FH manager, plans to convert her former office in bldg 1 into a dedicated massage therapy room to accommodate the volunteer staff and their resident clients.

September 28. Jaime and Mary met with Karrie Hagan, Fisher House manager at the VA Medical Center in Cincinnati, OH to discuss a massage therapy program for her residents.

September 10. TOR was awarded a grant by the Palmer Foundation to provide education and training in self-healing and positive touch to young mothers and children who have been victims of domestic violence. We are currently developing curriculum that would integrate workshops on massage therapy, yoga, acupuncture, nutrition, and personal training. In partnership with My Sister’s Place located in Washington, DC, TOR plans to launch programs in the four transitional shelters operated by MSP by January 2008.

August 30. The Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund (IMSFF) donated the cost of four new Oakworks portable massage chairs to TOR for use at the BAMC and NMCSD Fisher Houses. An appreciation ceremony will be held at the NMCSD launch in December for Sondria Saylor, Director of West Coast Case Mgmt for IMSFF.