Haley Herrera has been married for four years. For almost three of them, her husband has been away with the Army on overseas combat deployments and training assignments.

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On one hand, she’s extremely proud. Her husband is a member of the <a href="https://www.soc.mil/USASFC/Groups/1st/1stSFGHomepage.html">1st Special Forces Group (Airborne)</a>, stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Tacoma, Wash. “You have tremendous pride in the work that your spouse does. All the things that the military has made for us – security, benefits, community,” Herrera says. “I would consider him to be our best and brightest. There’s a reason why he’s doing the job he’s doing. I can’t see him doing anything else. I wouldn’t want him to.”

On the other hand, she lives with a large amount of uncertainty. When he deployed last July – his third time – she knew he was going into an active combat situation in Afghanistan. That summer, she also took over as manager of a Starbucks store in DuPont, Wash., near the base.

“Sick, alone, nervous, with a 6-month old, excited for a new opportunity, distracted by my fear and anxiety, very real fears about something happening to him,” Herrera says, trying to describe the rush of feelings at the time. “About a month into the deployment, I found out I was pregnant. I was feeling unsure, feeling tremendous pressure to keep that all to myself. You have this preconceived notion that nobody understands.”

This May, during Military Appreciation Month, Starbucks recognizes the sacrifice and commitment made by the Herreras and all the other military families across the United States. We honor the soldiers on the front lines and the families holding down the home front.

As part of Starbucks commitment to responding to the needs of the military community, the company is partnering with <a href="https://bluestarfam.org/">Blue Star Families</a> and <a href="https://getheadstrong.org/">Headstrong</a> to support the mental health and well-being of military families and veterans. For each new <a href="https://www.starbucks.com/gift/category/military-app?utm_source=primary&amp;utm_medium=homepage&amp;utm_campaign=militaryappreciationmonth">Starbucks Military eGift card</a> activated between May 21 to June 1, Starbucks will donate $5 to Blue Star Families and Headstrong.

<a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2019/starbucks-reaffirms-its-commitment-to-veterans/">This partnership is a continuation of the company’s existing efforts</a>. Starbucks believes veterans and military families make the company better and communities stronger. In fact, Starbucks has hired more than 26,000 veterans and military spouses since 2013, far exceeding company goals. The company has also dedicated 68 Military Family Stores across the country to help support soldiers, veterans and their families. These stores are typically near military bases and are usually staffed by veterans and military family members.

‘It makes me feel a part of something’

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When Herrera took over the DuPont store last summer, she realized right away the level of deep shared understanding and unspoken support in her store community. About 90 percent of her store’s employees and customers are involved with the military – soldiers, base staff, veterans and family members.

“They knew the fears that I was having, that I hadn’t felt comfortable speaking,” Herrera says. “At that moment, I realized I need to do more to create this community for all of our partners (employees) who are feeling isolated and alone.”

She began mentoring store partners who are military spouses around career advancement. One of her store partners trained as a mental health counselor and social worker but moved with the military three times, meaning she had to recertify with a new state each time, and start yet another job search. Another partner was about to be promoted to assistant store manager in Washington state when the Army moved her and her family – with just a month’s notice – to North Carolina.

Herrera, who worked in human resources before joining Starbucks, believes military spouses can have a career at Starbucks. The company allows military spouses to transfer to other stores across the country when they’re relocated.

She also helped facilitate support groups at her store – on pause now with COVID-19 – including a mentorship group run by a retired Army officer that has been meeting for 29 years, almost every week since the store opened.

Last fall, her husband’s teammate – a close family friend – died during a combat mission. The moment was devastating, Herrera says, not only for the loss of human life, but for the way it played out with the surviving family – the stress caused by mundane discussions around paperwork and life insurance and navigating details of funeral arrangements. “It was horrible,” Herrera says. “A ton of very complex things that you would never even think about or even want to think about.”

The death reinforced the importance of her role. Herrera wants to facilitate meaningful conversations, develop programs and lead partner networks that expand on corporate initiatives and address more of what military partners are experiencing.

She also wants to directly confront the stigmas around mental health and well-being in the military community. Many reasons – not wanting to burden others, not wanting to constantly explain or justify or be vulnerable, assuming people don’t care – “cause the military community to internalize a lot of their struggles,” she says. “There’s a resistance to asking for help, to express what’s going on. (But) it’s crucial to somebody’s mental health to talk about it.”

Allyson Harasimowicz, Blue Star Families (BSF) Craig Newmark New York Tri-State Chapter Director, has moved 13 times in 25 years with the military – while raising four children. Her husband, Mike, a retired Air Force colonel, has been stationed all over the U.S. and deployed to the Middle East and Asia.

Right before one of those moves, their 18-month-old son Joshua was diagnosed with liver cancer. They arrived at a base in Missouri, with a severely sick child, not knowing a single person.

“That sounds like a real low point, but it really became one of the highest of high points,” Harasimowicz remembers. “I continually would be getting cards and notes of encouragement and meals. One person drove blood samples to a lab. It was one of the most difficult things we had to do and yet it was the most incredible camaraderie that we can say that we felt.”

Joshua, now 22 years old, is in college and completely healthy.

Harasimowicz wants to recreate those feelings of connection for other military families. BSF is a longtime partner to Starbucks and Harasimowicz has worked with Starbucks managers in the New York area – Brooklyn, Yonkers, Newburgh – to host instore hiring events, coffee connects and holiday parties for military families. She’s passed out free tickets to Broadway musicals and local museums, and organized scavenger hunts in Central Park.

During the quarantine, on Easter Sunday, BSF volunteers went shopping for a young military spouse who had just moved to the area and whose husband had deployed. She was at home with two young children, didn’t know her neighbors and was concerned about how she was going to safely get groceries.

“One of our main missions is helping our military families with that sense of belonging,” Harasimowicz says. “If you are a family that has to move every couple years, it’s hard to feel that. But we are in this life together. This COVID-19 craziness has really given that sense of, everybody is in the same boat here, and we have the same basic needs.”

If families and communities are strong, soldiers and veterans are strong too, says Mike Harasimowicz, who retired five years ago and assists his wife at many BSF events. It’s a lesson he’s learned many times as an Air Force commander: families and strong support systems help people survive crises.

“Isolation is not an option, you have to get involved,” he says. “When people become isolated, when people lose that sense of camaraderie, they are vulnerable. And that’s what we’re trying to fight. You are important, you do belong, your service is respected. Your service made a difference and we care about you.”

After he returned from his second tour of duty in Iraq, Pasha Palanker hit rock bottom. He’d suffered a traumatic brain injury caused by a rocket attack. When he was deemed medically nondeployable by the U.S. Army, he grappled with the loss of his identity after more than 12 years of service. Panic attacks and uncontrollable bursts of anger were affecting daily routines: work, family time, even just a trip to the grocery store.

“At that point, there were only two options,” Palanker remembers. “Suicide, or start the long climb out of a very dark place.”

For Palanker, an Army Master Sergeant who lives in a Washington D.C. suburb in Maryland, what made him choose the latter was his children – three young boys at the time (he now has four). Palanker’s own father had left the family when he was 6 years old, back in Moldova where he grew up. “To me, being a father, it’s a huge part of my identity,” he says. “Because of them, I gave it everything I had.”

Palanker’s mental health journey has been slow and painful, but steadily trending upward, he says. He’s now a client with Headstrong, which provides cost-free, stigma-free and confidential mental health care treatment to <a href="https://medium.com/@HeadstrongProj">veterans suffering from the hidden wounds of war</a>. Starbucks supports Headstrong’s mission to improve mental health outcomes for the military community and end veteran suicide.

“It’s so hard for soldiers and veterans to ask for help, for mental health help,” Palanker says. “Headstrong made the process so simple, then they get back to you right away, the next day, so you don’t have time to change your mind. Everyone I dealt with was so compassionate and so sensitive to my struggles. It just felt right, every step of the way.”

Born and raised in Moldova, part of the former Soviet Union and now one of the poorest countries in Europe, Palanker came to the U.S. when he was 15 years old. He settled with his mother, grandmother and little brother in North Hollywood.

“Started out in a rough neighborhood, welfare, didn’t speak English,” says Palanker, now 39. “But I would pinch myself every morning, happy to be in this country.”

Wanting to give back, he enlisted in the Army after graduating high school. By Christmas 2004, he was in Iraq, working as part of a counter IED (improvised explosive device) task force. He supported a team that would try to disarm roadside bombs or analyze scenes after one detonated.

His experiences overseas were intense. One time, he came within 10 feet of a suicide bomber. Another time, he had to go to a market after a truck bomb blew up there. Two weeks away from returning home at the end of his first deployment, in September 2005, an IED went off underneath Palanker’s feet. The explosion sent him flying 15 feet and burst his left ear drum, an injury which required three surgeries. He received the Purple Heart Medal, the first of two, the oldest military award still given to U.S. military members. &nbsp;

After his second deployment ended in 2015 – after the rocket attack – he decided to seek help. The anger and adrenaline that had helped him survive combat situations didn’t dissipate when he returned home. There were road rage incidents. He blew up at a passenger on an airplane who was kicking the chair behind him. He’d get irrationally angry at his boys when they dropped something and startled him. Increasingly, he spiraled into an unhealthy combination of guilt, isolation and alcohol.

His first session eased some of the “crushing pressure,” he says. Medication also helped, and then he started reading books on post-traumatic stress and brain injuries, which unlocked new revelations. He went through an intensive four-week in-house stay at Walter Reed Hospital, and eventually met Jessica Gada, the Headstrong therapist who is still helping him today.

“It took me five years to realize I had a problem, and it took me another five years to take it seriously,” Palanker says. “I underestimated the impact that post-traumatic stress would have on my life.”

He has strategies now – mentoring veterans struggling with mental health, taking long walks, retreating to his car when his emotions are about to spike and working out at a mixed-martial arts studio he also co-founded, called The Compound.

“I want anybody who’s struggling to know, there’s a lot that can be done,” Palanker says. “But that starts with you saying to somebody, a friend, a therapist, ‘I’m struggling.’ Once you say it, it becomes real, and once it’s real, you’re forced to do something about it. Once you say it, it’s out and it gives your friends permission to check up on you.

“I’m still struggling big time with things, but I’m in a lot better place,” Palanker says. “Now I have hope.”

When the battle isn’t over: Honoring veterans by supporting mental health - Starbucks Stories

Stories to inspire and nurture the human spirit

Starbucks Stories

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When the battle isn’t over: Honoring veterans by supporting mental health

During Military Appreciation Month, Starbucks is partnering with Blue Star Families and Headstrong to support the mental health and well-being of military families and veterans.

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Today, Starbucks announced a new mental health benefit for U.S. partners (employees) in partnership with Lyra Health as the latest development in its comprehensive <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2020/starbucks-commitment-to-partners-mental-health/">mental health initiative</a> announced in September.

Beginning April 6, partners will have access to 20 free sessions with Lyra therapists and coaches for themselves and eligible family members, all at no cost.

This new benefit will connect more Starbucks partners to effective, high quality care that is more accessible, robust and tailored to partners specific needs than ever before.

Starbucks commitment to supporting partners mental health furthers the company’s legacy in providing <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2017/starbucks-commitment-to-partners/">industry-leading benefits</a> for more than 400,000 partners who wear the green apron.

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Starbucks announces reimagined mental health care for U.S. partners - Starbucks Stories

Starbucks announces reimagined mental health care for U.S. partners

Company provides U.S. partners with a new mental health benefit including 20 care sessions a year for partners and their eligible family members.

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Starbucks builds on its history of providing innovative, industry-leading benefits for employees with new mental health care benefit in partnership with Lyra Health.

U.S. partners (employees) and eligible family members will receive 20 mental health sessions with a therapist or coach each year.

Offering a new mental health care resource is part of Starbucks larger mental health initiative announced in September, created based on partner feedback.

SEATTLE – Starbucks Coffee Company (NASDAQ: SBUX) today announced a reimagined mental health care benefit for its U.S. partners (employees) that is more accessible, robust and tailored to partners specific needs than ever before.

Beginning April 6, Starbucks will provide all U.S. partners and eligible family members access to 20 sessions a year with a mental health therapist or coach through <a href="https://www.lyrahealth.com/">Lyra Health</a>, all at no cost to the user.

The innovative mental health benefits provider, Lyra Health, will connect more Starbucks partners to high quality care. Starbucks partners will be able to securely and confidentially seek evidence-based mental health treatment, identify available health providers that meet their individual needs, and book appointments on the spot with options to meet with their therapist or coach by video or in-person. Starbucks partners may also access self-guided online programs recommended by Lyra Health based on their specific needs. Lyra Health also offers support for legal services, identity theft and financial coaching. 

“Caring for Starbucks partners is at the core of our company. We are constantly listening to our partners and exploring new ways to enhance the innovative benefits we offer to support them and their families,” said Kevin Johnson, Starbucks president and ceo. “Mental health is a fundamental part of our humanity and these resources will make a meaningful difference in people’s lives and help break the stigma around this complex issue.”

The reimagined mental health care benefit was created based on partner feedback and is the latest update in the company’s comprehensive <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2020/starbucks-commitment-to-partners-mental-health/">mental health initiative</a> announced last September, with an aim to promote mental wellness and offer innovative new mental health care benefits that support Starbucks goal to break the stigma.

“We listened to our partners in order to understand what they really need and would really use,” said Ron Crawford, vice president of global benefits at Starbucks. “What we’ve created in partnership with Lyra Health directly addresses the feedback we’ve heard.”

This announcement follows Starbucks introduction of several new and improved benefits this year <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2020/starbucks-launches-partner-headspace-subscriptions/">including Headspace</a>, the daily meditation and mindfulness app, to U.S. and Canada partners, as well as mental health training sessions for U.S. and Canada store managers that will be available this summer in partnership with the National Council for Behavioral Health, inspired by Mental Health First Aid.

“NAMI applauds Starbucks’ effort to increase access to mental health care for their U.S. partners and families,” said Daniel H. Gillison, Jr., CEO of National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). “We know that through treatment, recovery is possible and having access to free mental health sessions can make a positive impact on anyone struggling with their mental health. This is a new standard for employee benefits which will not only improve the lives of individuals but also the company.”

Since 1971, Starbucks Coffee Company has been committed to ethically sourcing and roasting high-quality arabica coffee. Today, with more than 31,000 stores around the globe, the company is the premier roaster and retailer ofspecialty coffee in the world. Through our unwavering commitment to excellence and our guiding principles, we bringthe unique Starbucks Experience to life for every customer through every cup. To share in the experience, please visitus in our stores or online at <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/">stories.starbucks.com</a> or <a href="http://www.starbucks.com">www.starbucks.com</a>.

Starbucks Transforms Mental Health Benefit for U.S. Employees - Starbucks Stories

Starbucks Transforms Mental Health Benefit for U.S. Employees

Starbucks builds on its history of providing innovative, industry-leading benefits for employees with new mental health care benefit in partnership with Lyra Health.

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With 1 in 5 adults experiencing some form of mental illness each year, Starbucks is taking a stand to help break the stigma and support partners’ mental health and well-being. 

The company is introducing several new and improved benefits this year – and starting today, our U.S. and Canada partners can subscribe to the app Headspace to support daily meditation and mindfulness. Learn more <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2020/starbucks-commitment-to-partners-mental-health">here</a> about our mental health initiative.

Starbucks launches Headspace subscriptions for partners - Starbucks Stories

Starbucks launches Headspace subscriptions for partners

As part of Starbucks commitment to mental health, the company is introducing several new and improved benefits for partners, including a free subscription to the meditation app.

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Mental health needs are diverse, and in fact the mental health crisis is incredibly complex, with 1 in 5 adults experiencing some form of mental illness each year. Our partners and customers experience it firsthand every day – in their personal lives, in their stores, and in the neighborhoods we serve. 

At an event we held in September for store managers and field leaders from the U.S. and Canada, we laid out our commitment by declaring that at Starbucks,&nbsp;mental health matters. As our chief partner officer, Lucy Helm said, “Together, we’re on a mission to take a stand, help break the stigma, and get even more partners and their family the support they need.”

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Our work ahead will continue to be rooted in listening, learning and taking bold actions. 

Mental health is a fundamental part of our humanity. We have so much more opportunity ahead, and with each step, we want to ensure that every partner, in every store, feels supported and knows how and where to seek help for themselves and others. 

Starbucks commitment to supporting the mental health of partners - Starbucks Stories

Starbucks commitment to supporting the mental health of partners

As part of it’s pledge that mental health matters, Starbucks is offering a suite of new benefits and resources for its partners, including a free subscription to the mediation app Headspace.

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Starbucks has hired 26,000 veterans since 2013 with a commitment to hire more and has recently added additional mental health benefits. On Veterans Day, Starbucks will donate 25 cents for every cup&nbsp;of brewed coffee sold nationwide to non-profits Team Red, White and Blue and Team Rubicon.

On a late summer evening in 2013, Mike Washington stopped by Stanley and Seafort’s, a restaurant in Tacoma, Wash., and finished off a New York strip steak. He had a few drinks, paid the bill in cash and went outside, walking until he arrived at the bridge over East 26th Street. He climbed on top of the concrete barrier at the edge, steadied himself against a light pole and wondered if he should jump.

“A sense of failure, an inability to cope, a fairly sudden realization that I’m in over my head,” says Washington, 57, trying to explain his thinking that night. “Combine that with shame and guilt and this felt like the only outlet. Let me do this and be done with it.”

Washington had always been the rock. Bald head. Linebacker frame. The guy everyone called “Top.” A Master Sergeant and counter-intelligence Marine who fought wars all over the globe. He prided himself on being “the pointy end of the spear.” A career firefighter after his service, he always rushed in. &nbsp;&nbsp;

But at that moment, his mind was foggy and he was broken and beat. Five years earlier, his 20-year-old son, Michael, also a Marine, died with three other Marines while serving in Afghanistan, victims of a roadside improvised explosive device. The death was a watershed moment for Washington, unleashing bottled-up memories from childhood, accelerating destructive behaviors and causing suicidal ideations. 

More than 6,000 U.S. <a href="https://teamrubiconusa.org/">veterans</a> died by suicide every year between 2008 and 2017, according to the <a href="https://www.mentalhealth.va.gov/docs/data-sheets/2019/2019_National_Veteran_Suicide_Prevention_Annual_Report_508.pdf">2019 National Veteran Suicide Prevention Annual Report</a>, released in September by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. In addition, studies have found that veterans deal with issues such as depression and post-traumatic stress at rates higher than the civilian population. Washington, who was previously recognized as a <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2017/upstanders-the-firefighters-rescuer/">Starbucks Upstander</a>, is partnering with Starbucks again to help companies better understand the veterans story.

On this Veterans Day, Starbucks affirms its commitment to our country’s military personnel, their families and their mental health. Starbucks believes that veterans and military spouses make our company better and our communities stronger. In fact, Starbucks has hired more than 26,000 veterans and military spouses, to help ease their transition out of service, exceeding a goal set in 2013. The company is committed to hiring 5,000 more annually going forward. 

Starbucks also dedicated its 62nd Military Family Store on Oct. 11 in Aberdeen, Md., with plans to dedicate 70 more by 2022, so soldiers, veterans and their families can have a shared space. These stores are typically near military bases and are usually staffed by veterans and their spouses.

And, in 2019, the Starbucks Foundation awarded more than $750,000 in grants to support veterans causes. One of the recent recipients is <a href="http://wearethe22.com/">We Are The 22</a>, a nonprofit based out of Conway, Ark., trying to help combat veteran suicide through direct, peer-based intervention.

Supporting mental health

In September, responding to feedback from its veterans community as well as its field partners, Starbucks announced a new mental health initiative which will increase employee access to mental health resources, training and care. Starbucks aspires to meet the unique needs of the veterans community and be a corporate leader in breaking the stigma around mental health through resources, advocacy and partnerships. 

On Veterans Day, Nov. 11, Starbucks will donate 25 cents for every cup of brewed coffee sold nationwide to be split equally between non-profits <a href="https://teamrubiconusa.org/">Team Rubicon</a>, for their work mobilizing veterans to respond to disasters and humanitarian crises around the world, and <a href="https://www.teamrwb.org/">Team Red, White and Blue</a>, for their “Ending Isolation” campaign. In addition, all veterans, active service members and their spouses will receive a free cup of coffee at participating stores.

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“Despite the continuing tragedy of veteran suicide, I am encouraged that honest conversation about mental health is emerging,” says Matt Kress, Starbucks senior manager of Veteran and Military Affairs, a 22-year Marine Corps veteran and a retired firefighter and EMT. “Veterans of all ranks and age are being more open about their challenges, which is the first step in breaking down the societal stigma around mental health.”

Coming back from the edge

For Washington, the retired Marine, his brush with suicide was the long, lonely end result of years of internalizing his experiences. As a child growing up in Hawaii and then southern California, he was molested and lived amidst poverty, alcoholism, hunger and abuse. During his career as a Marine, he saw the horrors on the Highway of Death between Kuwait and Iraq, fought in a civil war in Bosnia, deployed to Afghanistan and east Africa. Back home, as a Seattle firefighter, he walked into strange houses and sometimes saw people die. 

The low point came June 14, 2008, the day his son died. He was at Fire Station 16 in the Greenwood neighborhood in Seattle when a suburban pulled up with his wife inside. A casualty officer walked out. It was like a movie, he says, and he knew right away that Michael was dead. 

After each of those hard moments in his life, what didn’t help, Washington says, were the unhealthy messages that bubbled up, often self-inflicted: Don’t be weak. Man up. Be strong. Suck it up. Quit your complaining. Other people have it worse than you. Get over it.

“All those things you just put away, because that’s what you’re supposed to do with this stuff. You just keep putting these bricks in your backpack,” Washington says. “That backpack is pretty heavy after a while and you compensated for it and compensated for it. And at some point, everything can come crashing back down on you.

“You know, inside, I’m just crumbling. I’m imploding.”&nbsp; &nbsp;

What brought him back from the edge, literally Washington believes, was his son, a kind and caring boy who was born deaf in one ear, who took seriously his role as “man of the house” when his father was deployed. At 20, Michael was a squad leader, in charge of 12 other Marines, and was promoted to Sergeant in the 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines, Golf Company, with less than three years of experience.

As the elder Washington contemplated suicide that summer night, he felt “almost a physical pull” that knocked him back onto the bridge. He describes it like this: “My son, when I was ready to go over, saying, ‘Dad, this is not where your story ends. There’s more work for you to do out there and people need to hear your story, so they don’t go down this path.’ And I honestly believe that was his doing.” 

The path to stability has been hard. He got divorced. He went to therapy. He struggled to contain a volatile mix of alcohol, violence and emotions. 

But he also started to speak about his experiences to young soldiers at nearby Fort Lewis, including those who knew his son. He met Valerie, an Army veteran radio operator, who shared his struggles and kept him accountable. They married three years ago and take ballroom dance lessons together. 

He became the critical incident stress debriefer for the Seattle Fire Department so he could guide others through trauma – he works with Engine 27 in Seattle’s Georgetown neighborhood – and volunteered with veterans’ service organizations like Team Rubicon so he could use his unique skills and help out with disaster responses. 

Recently, with Team Rubicon, Washington was able to deploy together to the Bahamas with his daughter, Aja, a Korean linguist with the Army and now an ICU nurse, in the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian. A blessing, he says. 

The outbursts still occasionally flare up, and Washington knows he’ll need a lifelong maintenance plan. He recently earned a master’s degree in social work from the University of Southern California. He wants to continue his work with veterans and first responders to get them whatever help they need. 

“There’s a lot like me, OK?” Washington says. “There’s a light at the end of the tunnel here, by doing these things, by getting the help. I put my hand up and you know, I’m working through the shame and the guilt, and getting over my self-image of who I think I am.” 

Life after the military&nbsp;

One of the biggest tension points for veterans is the transition away from military life. George Page, a Starbucks store manager in Escondido, Calif., was a Marine for 27 years, retiring as the Marine Corps Community Services operations chief. He and his team rolled satellite communications systems into combat outposts so that Marines could call home and use the internet. 

He describes his experience back to civilian life as more of a “transformation.”

“When we join the military, we are transformed into a U.S. Marine, and then we live that life,” Page says. “And then we come out, and the civilian population recognizes our service but not necessarily the transformation that came with that service, and we need to learn how to transform back.

“The corporate world doesn’t necessarily get us.” 

Page, 52, has had to learn how to change his posture in front of store partners who have no military experience and to laugh, smile and use humor to defuse stressful situations. Part of the first wave of 10,000 hired in 2013 as part of Starbucks’ veterans hiring initiative, Page wants to dispel the myth that all veterans suffer from post-traumatic stress. &nbsp;

Joshua Evans, a Starbucks store manager in Frederick, Md., located west of Baltimore, says it was difficult to translate his military experience into a resume that fit what employers wanted. He was a chemical operations specialist who worked on bomb patrols with the Army. On deployment in Kuwait, he herniated a disc moving 150-pound shields off military Humvees. Doctors put a titanium rod in his back. He pivoted to satellite communications and retired from the military in 2015 after his body started to break down. 

“It gets to the point where you wake up in the morning, and you’re mapping out which job fairs you’re going to,” Evans explains. “By the end of the day, you’re home online, doing regular daddy household stuff, on job sites, employment websites, looking for stuff, figuring how to translate these amazing skills you got in the military and trying to word them right for a civilian audience. That’s a daily thing. 

“You go to sleep answering questions to the wife of why that interview didn’t work out, and why that opportunity didn’t work out, and the stress just starts building. We dwindled through savings. Bills are starting to stack up. Watching your credit score drop. I don’t want to be late on a house payment. All the stressors start amplifying massively.” 

‘They give us a place and welcome us’

He was standing in line at a job fair at Nationals Park, where the Washington D.C. professional baseball team plays, when a Starbucks recruiter – a former Marine – approached him. He interviewed right away with some district managers and within a few months, he was managing his own store.&nbsp; 

“Starbucks has gotten it right because they give us a place and they welcome us,” Evans says. “It’s given that sense of community back.” 

Evans also found relief on the water. He’s now a competitive kayak fisherman who takes other veterans out on the water to find a bit of freedom and peace of mind. He’s trying to start a movement called #catch22, a hashtag for comprehensive fishing therapy resources for veterans. 

“In the military, if something bad goes down, you’re trained to respond and react to people who come at you with aggression,” Evans says. “You have to retrain yourself to not respond that way. You have to take it for what it is and still find a way to be cordial and professional and polite. There are parallels with the military in the taking care of people aspect of it (as a Starbucks store manager). But the way you approach your day and the way you approach your negatives and positives, those are different, there’s a lot of adjustment there. 

“I’ve found a lot of growth in myself in the last couple years as a person,” he says. “I’ve dialed that stuff down to be a guider, a mentor and a source of positivity and growth in our community, and do all these things that before I was in the Army, that were not ever even a thought.” 

Starbucks expands support to veterans’ mental health - Starbucks Stories

Starbucks expands support to veterans’ mental health

Starbucks reaffirms its commitment to veterans, their families, and their mental health.

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mental health - Starbucks Stories

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