First I just want to start by thanking SAMHSA for just the extraordinary work that you're
doing, and for including us tonight.
This is really, it's such an honor.
About a year and a half ago, we launched this film along with a campaign.
With the goal of breaking the stigma around seeking mental health care.
Connecting communities.
Pointing towards paths of healing for veterans and their families.
And we've connected with hundreds of audiences so far, and we hope to connect with
hundreds more, so this really means a lot to us to be here tonight.
As part of that impact campaign, we have a whole team working with us.
I'm really honored that our amazing impact producer, Erin Sorenson, is here with us
tonight.
And we also have other members who aren't here.
Paulo Araujo and Chris Marvin.
And they're working hard every single day to make sure that this film gets in front of
those who can really benefit from seeing it.
We'd also like to thank our campaign partners who have been supporting us from the
beginning.
The Bertha Foundation.
The Fledgling Fund.
Good Pitch.
Chicago Media Project.
And The Charles E. Kubly Foundation.
They're a Milwaukee-based foundation that does extraordinary work in battling depression
and helping with suicide prevention.
And I'd also like to thank our producing partners.
ITVS and POV.
Because of them, we're really fortunate that we're going to be able to share this film
with the entire country around Veteran's Day on November 13 on PBS.
Yes, thank you.
And along the way we've been working with some extraordinary community partners who are,
like so many of you in this room tonight, doing the real work in the front lines.
And Stop Soldier Suicide has been a great partner.
And also project Welcome Home Troops.
They conduct the Power Breath Workshop that we actually get to witness in the film where
Tom undergoes an extraordinary transformation.
And they've been offering this workshop free of charge to veterans, their families,
care providers, for about a decade.
So we're really honored to be working with them.
So about five years ago, when Marty and I began this journey, we knew that we wanted to
make a film that changed the narrative in this country a little bit around how veterans
were portrayed as just either the broken soldier or the homecoming hero.
And we wanted to create something that was actually hopeful and inspiring.
And we were really fortunate to have met Tom and Anthony and their partners and their
families and all of them who allowed us into their lives.
Tom and Anthony were - they had been home from Iraq for quite some time.
And they had friends who were taking their own lives.
And they actually saw themselves on that same path.
And they were afraid.
They didn't want to become another statistic.
So they decided that they were going to take a long walk to try to find answers for
themselves.
To try to heal.
So we knew that if we were able to capture that on film, that there would be a powerful
piece of media that could really be used to inspire people.
So we followed them.
And pretty quickly we discovered that what they were dealing with wasn't PTSD so much as
it was moral injury.
And that is more of a wound to the soul, categorized a lot more, in terms of guilt and
shame.
And while these are pains that are difficult to reach with pills and traditional
therapies, we were very happy to see that there are many, many paths towards healing.
And as we followed them on this journey, we saw the power of communities who came out to
support them.
Of peer support, as they connected with other veterans.
The power of being in nature.
And as we got to see very clearly with Tom, the power of yoga, meditation, breath work,
to truly heal from some of these pains.
I think the most extraordinary thing that I learned on this journey was that after
following these guys 2,700 miles across seven states for six months is that really the
most powerful journey that anyone can take is an internal one.
And it's in doing that that we discover the infinite potential that everyone has for
resilience, for healing, and that there is always hope.
So on behalf of Almost Sunrise, our campaign, we'd really like to thank SAMHSA and all of you
It's really an honor to be with you tonight.
Thank you.