Veterans

November 1, 2022  by

Our November Community Outreach Partner: Boulder Crest Foundation

Boulder Crest Foundation

A suicide epidemic claims the lives of 20 service members and veterans every day, and more first responders die by suicide than in the line of fire. Millions of other combat veterans and first responders live lives filled with despair, battling PTSD, anxiety, and depression. The current mental health system, with its reliance on a one-size-fits-all approach of pharmaceuticals and talk therapy, has failed to address the nature and scale of this challenge.

Enter in our November Community Outreach partner, Boulder Crest Foundation, a leader in the field of posttraumatic growth for veterans and first responders, as our November Community Outreach partner. The mission of Boulder Crest Foundation is to facilitate Posttraumatic Growth through transformative programs, world-class training and education initiatives, along with research and advocacy efforts to help combat veterans, first responders and their families overcome trauma.

The organization was founded in 2011 and opened its first center in 2013. It is led by founder and chairman, a 21-year combat veteran Ken Falke, retired Master Chief Petty Officer from the U.S. Navy Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD) community. Ken is world-renowned as a forward-thinking, creative leader in the field of wounded warrior care, military and veteran transition, counterterrorism, military training, and innovative technology development. 

Boulder Crest Foundations programs support warriors, couples and caregivers, and families by providing rest and reconnection. One of their programs, Warrior PATHH, is a transformative, lifelong, Posttraumatic Growth-based training program for combat veterans and first responders. The training begins with a 7-day on-site initiation that is followed by 18 months of training delivered by our instructors through their myPATHH platform. 

We are honored to once again be supporting Boulder Crest Foundation this November and are donating $1 from every haircut we do this month to this wonderful local, non-profit. In addition to your support through your visits to Salon Khouri, you might also consider visiting the Boulder Crest website to become more familiar with this amazing, local non-profit. 

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November 1, 2021  by

Our November Community Outreach Partner: Boulder Crest Foundation

Boulder Crest Foundation

A suicide epidemic claims the lives of 20 service members and veterans every day, and more first responders die by suicide than in the line of fire. Millions of other combat veterans and first responders live lives filled with despair, battling PTSD, anxiety, and depression. The current mental health system, with its reliance on a one-size-fits-all approach of pharmaceuticals and talk therapy, has failed to address the nature and scale of this challenge.

Enter in our November Community Outreach partner, Boulder Crest Foundation, a leader in the field of posttraumatic growth for veterans and first responders, as our November Community Outreach partner. The mission of Boulder Crest Foundation is to facilitate Posttraumatic Growth through transformative programs, world-class training and education initiatives, along with research and advocacy efforts to help combat veterans, first responders and their families overcome trauma.

The organization was founded in 2011 and opened its first center in 2013. It is led by founder and chairman, a 21-year combat veteran Ken Falke, retired Master Chief Petty Officer from the U.S. Navy Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD) community. Ken is world-renowned as a forward-thinking, creative leader in the field of wounded warrior care, military and veteran transition, counterterrorism, military training, and innovative technology development. 

Boulder Crest Foundations programs support warriors, couples and caregivers, and families by providing rest and reconnection. One of their programs, Warrior PATHH, is a transformative, lifelong, Posttraumatic Growth-based training program for combat veterans and first responders. The training begins with a 7-day on-site initiation that is followed by 18 months of training delivered by our instructors through their myPATHH platform. 

Boulder Crest Foundation has a speakers’ bureau that includes Ken and Co-Founder Josh Goldberg as well as the institute’s professional team. This resource provides speakers and presentations to interested businesses, community groups, military units and schools. Speaker representatives have trained active duty military, veterans, first responders, and civilians at organizations including COMSUBPAC, SEABEES, SVAC Sierra Vista Area, U.S. Navy Senior Enlisted Academy, Rotary Club of Winchester, Warrior Reunion Foundation, Semlec Police Mobile Operations Division, Accenture Federal Services, Leadership Loudoun, Shenandoah University, U.S. Marine Corps, United Rentals, and others.

We are honored to once again be supporting Boulder Crest Foundation this November and are donating $1 from every haircut we do this month to this wonderful local, non-profit. In addition to your support through your visits to Salon Khouri, you might also consider visiting the Boulder Crest website to become more familiar with this amazing, local non-profit. Other ways you can help are to purchase tickets to the Bluemont Vineyard Love Local event on December 2nd where they will be lighting 30,000 lights at the vineyard. A portion of the proceeds will go to Boulder Crest Foundation.

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December 4, 2020  by

Team Mathias – Our December 2020 Community Outreach Partner

We are honored to tell you about our December community outreach partner, local non-profit, Team Mathias.  We will be donating $1 from every haircut this month in support of Team Mathias and the ongoing childhood cancer efforts undertaken by Team Mathias, founded in his precious memory. Mathias Giordano was diagnosed with osteosarcoma in July 2012 at the age of 11. For 29 months, Mathias endured biopsies, a port placement, 30+ rounds of high dose chemo, 3 major lung surgeries, amputation of his right leg below the knee, 27 rounds of radiation and a number of clinical trials. He battled cancer with the courage, spirit and strength of someone much older and he touched the hearts of everyone who met this fierce warrior fighting for his life. And through it all, Mathias refused to let cancer define him. He was,  to the end, the author of his own journey. Mathias decided on December 7, 2014, at 5:00 in the evening, that it was time to leave this world. He is missed every day by those who knew this courageous young warrior.

A legacy of Mathias is the Virginia Cure Childhood Cancer licence plate. Mathias wanted others to know about childhood cancer so Mathias’ family and friends worked with Delegate Tag Greason (R-32nd) to pass the Mathias Bill. “The Mathias Bill passed the House earlier by a vote of 98-0,” Greason told the Times-Mirror. “It has been amazing to watch Mathias’ vision become a reality and it is inspiring to know a small child can make such a huge impact.”

Another of Mathias’ ideas for spreading awareness was to do random acts of kindness, to pay it forward to others. We ask that you consider performing a random act of kindness this December in honor of Mathias and, if you post about it, please use the hashtags #PayItForward and #MathiasStrong.

Please take the time this December learn more about the facts on childhood cancer. Visit the Take Action page on the Team Mathias site and help spread the word. You could also participate in their Adopt-A-Family program to help directly support a family fighting Childhood Cancer. Last year, in 2019, Team Mathias was able to load up 4 SUVs from top-to-bottom with gifts for families in treatment or bereaved families.. 

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November 1, 2020  by

Supporting veterans through Boulder Crest Foundation

Boulder Crest Foundation

A suicide epidemic claims the lives of 20 service members and veterans every day, and more first responders die by suicide than in the line of fire. Millions of other combat veterans and first responders live lives filled with despair, battling PTSD, anxiety, and depression. The current mental health system, with its reliance on a one-size-fits-all approach of pharmaceuticals and talk therapy, has failed to address the nature and scale of this challenge.

Enter in our November Community Outreach partner, Boulder Crest Foundation, a leader in the field of posttraumatic growth for veterans and first responders, as our November Community Outreach partner. The mission of Boulder Crest Foundation is to facilitate Posttraumatic Growth through transformative programs, world-class training and education initiatives, along with research and advocacy efforts to help combat veterans, first responders and their families overcome trauma.

The organization was founded in 2011 and opened its first center in 2013. It is led by founder and chairman, a 21-year combat veteran Ken Falke, retired Master Chief Petty Officer from the U.S. Navy Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD) community. Ken is world-renowned as a forward-thinking, creative leader in the field of wounded warrior care, military and veteran transition, counterterrorism, military training, and innovative technology development. 

Boulder Crest Foundations programs support warriors, couples and caregivers, and families by providing rest and reconnection. One of their programs, Warrior PATHH, is a transformative, lifelong, Posttraumatic Growth-based training program for combat veterans and first responders. The training begins with a 7-day on-site initiation that is followed by 18 months of training delivered by our instructors through their myPATHH platform. 

Boulder Crest Foundation has a speakers’ bureau that includes Ken and Co-Founder Josh Goldberg as well as the institute’s professional team. This resource provides speakers and presentations to interested businesses, community groups, military units and schools. Speaker representatives have trained active duty military, veterans, first responders, and civilians at organizations including COMSUBPAC, SEABEES, SVAC Sierra Vista Area, U.S. Navy Senior Enlisted Academy, Rotary Club of Winchester, Warrior Reunion Foundation, Semlec Police Mobile Operations Division, Accenture Federal Services, Leadership Loudoun, Shenandoah University, U.S. Marine Corps, United Rentals, and others.

This November, we will be donating $1 from every haircut we do to the Boulder Crest Foundation. In addition to your support through your visits to Salon Khouri, you might also consider visiting the Boulder Crest website to become more familiar with this amazing, local non-profit. 

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November 2, 2019  by

How we are helping our wounded warriors this November with Luke’s Wings

– Jennifer Elkhouri

I just finished reading The Trident, the Forging and Reforging of a Navy Seal Leader, by Jason Redman, which I purchased after having the honor of hearing Redman speak at the Business Mastery by Millennium conference in October. In the book, Redman tells of his journey to leadership and the many challenges, both physical and personal, he faced along the way. In 2007, Redman was struck by machine gun fire — twice in the arm and once in the face — on a mission in Iraq hunting down a key al-Qaida commander. Reading Redman’s words of his perseverance through his injuries, even after many setbacks, was absolutely inspiring. Jonathan and I are truly thankful for Redman and every man and woman who have put themselves in harms way defending our freedoms.

We are also thankful that our salons are able to give back to our wounded soldiers through our November community outreach partner, Luke’s Wings, whose mission is to support wounded, ill and injured service members by providing families with a means to visit during their recovery and rehabilitation. For over a decade, Luke’s Wings has provided complimentary airfare to wounded warriors and their loved ones to bridge the gap of separation during rehabilitation, helping keep them physically and emotionally connected on their journey to recovery.

We’d love to take a moment to share a few stories of those who’ve been helped by Luke’s Wings.

U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Ricardo P.U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Ricardo P. is a dedicated patriot with a combined 37 months in combat tours. During his time overseas, he sustained multiple injuries due to combat with the enemy, exposure to blasts and IEDs, and running with heavy equipment. As a result, he underwent months of treatment related to a spinal injury, a traumatic brain injury, PTSD and hearing loss, among others. As he continues to receive treatment here in the United States, he reached out to Luke’s Wings with a simple request – to see his family in Cali, Colombia for Christmas. For our wounded warriors, seeing family gives them hope, purpose and motivation to take the next step in their recovery. We are proud to support warriors like Ricardo who have sacrificed so much for our freedom.  “I could not be blessed a better way by having the team allowing me the chance to travel to South America and visit my family.” – U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Ricardo P.

 

 

U.S. Air Force Staff Sergeant Brandon B

U.S. Air Force Staff Sergeant Brandon B was involved in an accident during his deployment, resulting in complete numbness in his entire lower body and the inability to walk. Before long, his kidneys and liver began to shut down and they were immediately medevaced to the United States for critical treatments. They soon found themselves at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, MD with no idea what would come next. After multiple tests, MRI’s and consultations, he finally began down the path to recovery. When the Christmas season soon approached, they were far from family and unable to afford travel home to Tampa, FL. However, through Luke’s Wings, Brandon’s family was provided four flights so that they could surrounded him with family during the holidays, including his grandmother who was battling stage 3 ovarian cancer. These flights gave a family, who has been through so much, a chance to return to normalcy among the chaos of uncertainty.

 

This November, we are donating $1 from every haircut at our Fairfax and Dulles locations to support Luke’s Wings. If you have unused Delta SkyMiles, please consider donating them to Luke’s Wings.

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November 3, 2018  by

Our November Community Outreach: Coalition to Support America’s Heroes

Jsalute-heroes-logoonathan and I, and our entire team at Salon Khouri, are humbled by the sacrifice of those in our Armed Services. They risk limb and life for the freedoms that we get to enjoy each and every day in our great nation. We look at guys like Rob Jones, and what he has overcome after losing both legs above the knee in an IED explosion while he was serving in Afghanistan. It’s astounding to think about his courage, absolute grit and utter determination to overcome injury and become truly inspirational to others. I think we sometimes take for granted just how much these men and women — and their families — sacrifice so that we have the freedoms provided for us in our Constitution. In the 241 years since this nation was founded (and in those years leading up to our independence), there have been countless men and women willing to give up comfort and safety so that generations after them would not have to. We may not be a perfect nation, but we are a very good nation striving to be a better one. And we are a nation founded upon the truth that “all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”

We are taking time this month to thank those men and women, through the Coalition to Salute America’s Hereos, who have defended and who continue to defect these rights afforded to us in the United States.

Coalition to Salute America’s Hereos is a local non-profit, but one that serves wounded vets from across our nation. Their mission is to help severely-wounded veterans and families of Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom, and Operation New Dawn recover from their injuries and illnesses, and to inspire other organizations and the general public to participate in this effort.

Coalition to Salute America’s Hereos has many great programs. One of them is is emergency financial assistance given to our wounded veterans to help pay for necessities such as food and rent.

Their Road to Recovery Conference is a life-changing experience that brings severely wounded troops and their families from all across the U.S. together to encourage hope, healing and to continue on the Road to Recovery.

Through their Employment Initiatives, Coalition to Salute America’s Hereos provides job placement through partner organizations as well as part-time employment for the catastrophically wounded, which provides income through customized jobs for these wounded vets.

It is our honor to partner with Coalition for America’s Hereos this November. We will be donating $1 from every haircut from our Fairfax and Dulles location to this amazing, local non-profit.

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November 4, 2017  by

Helping our wounded veterans through this local-non profit!

Jsalute-heroes-logoonathan and I, and our entire team at Salon Khouri, are humbled by the sacrifice of those in our Armed Services. They risk limb and life for the freedoms that we get to enjoy each and every day in our great nation. We look at guys like Rob Jones, and what he has overcome after losing both legs above the knee in an IED explosion while he was serving in Afghanistan. It’s astounding to think about his courage, absolute grit and utter determination to overcome injury and become truly inspirational to others. I think we sometimes take for granted just how much these men and women — and their families — sacrifice so that we have the freedoms provided for us in our Constitution. In the 241 years since this nation was founded (and in those years leading up to our independence), there have been countless men and women willing to give up comfort and safety so that generations after them would not have to. We may not be a perfect nation, but we are a very good nation striving to be a better one. And we are a nation founded upon the truth that “all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”

We are taking time this month to thank those men and women, through the Coalition to Salute America’s Hereos, who have defended and who continue to defect these rights afforded to us in the United States.

Coalition to Salute America’s Hereos is a local non-profit, but one that serves wounded vets from across our nation. Their mission is to help severely-wounded veterans and families of Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom, and Operation New Dawn recover from their injuries and illnesses, and to inspire other organizations and the general public to participate in this effort.

Coalition to Salute America’s Hereos has many great programs. One of them is is emergency financial assistance given to our wounded veterans to help pay for necessities such as food and rent.

Their Road to Recovery Conference is a life-changing experience that brings severely wounded troops and their families from all across the U.S. together to encourage hope, healing and to continue on the Road to Recovery.

Through their Employment Initiatives, Coalition to Salute America’s Hereos provides job placement through partner organizations as well as part-time employment for the catastrophically wounded, which provides income through customized jobs for these wounded vets.

It is our honor to partner with Coalition for America’s Hereos this November. We will be donating $1 from every haircut from our Fairfax and Dulles location to this amazing, local non-profit.

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