Wounded Warriors Weekend PTSD program to expand

Those affected by post-traumatic stress will soon have access to a new resource, thanks to a partnership between a Saskatchewan hunting lodge and a group that holds weekend camps for those suffering from PTSD.

The partnership between Tobin Lake Trophy Adventures and the Wounded Warriors Weekend Foundation Ltd. will form Camp Independence, where those suffering from PTSD can spend a full week focusing on their healing with others who are struggling in the same ways. The foundation doesn’t just help veterans and military personnel. Police officers, trauma nurses, correctional officers, firefighters, EMTs and all forms of first responders are also welcome, and the camps have hosted PTSD sufferers from around the world.

Expanding their camps from weekends to a full week has been a dream for the Wounded Warriors Foundation, CEO Blake Emmons told CKOM/CJME’s John Gormley.

“All that we could do was get them together and find out that it’s okay to be not okay,” Emmons said. “But now, while they’re here … we’ll be able to spend certain amounts of time to actually give them some tools to help them in their healing.”

Emmons said Camp Independence will offer services such as art therapy, equine therapy, music therapy, service dog training and cognitive programs which were previously unavailable due to constraints around time and resources.

The location is scenically beautiful, Emmons said, and sleeps roughly 30 people. Although Wounded Warriors has played host to many more than 30 people at weekend camps, he said he hopes the smaller cohort and longer duration will allow participants to build stronger connections and form a network that will let them keep helping each other long after leaving the campsite.

Tobin Lake Trophy Adventures owners Gerald and Irene Purcell expressed their strong support for the new partnership.

“These men and women have made it possible for people like us to have what we have, and to live the life we do in a country that’s free,” the couple said in a written statement.

Camp Independence is expected to announce its official opening date within the next month.