HEALTHY LIVING WITH JANICE - GUEST AUTHOR PATRICE WILTON

Romance author Patrice Wilton is part of an exciting new venture with Amazon Montlake as one of their first debut authors in a new program. A Hero Lies Within, the first book in her Returning War Hero series, will be one of the first books to be released as a “serial” Kindle book. Amazon describes this program as, “Kindle Serials are stories published in episodes, with future episodes delivered at no additional cost.” For Patrice’s book, there are a total of seven episodes with new episodes delivered every two weeks. In May the book will be available in every format, and the second of her books, Handle With Care, will start the next serial.

Today Patrice is here to tell us about programs that help returning veterans. Learn more about Patrice and her books at her website. -- AP

It was during my research for A Hero Lies Within, that I realized someone had beaten Jake Harrington, the hero of my story, in providing help for our homeless veterans by a good twenty years.

The Faith, Hope, Love, Charity organization, and the Stand Down House, started by Roy Foster, opened their doors in May 2000. The multi-tiered program provides emergency/transitional housing and supportive services for veterans struggling with addictions, mental illness, PTSD, traumatic brain injuries and physical limitations.

For more than twenty years, Roy Foster, once a homeless vet himself, has roamed the woods at night, and made it his mission to get every homeless vet off the street and ensure that no man is left behind.

Since the inception of this program, more than 2000 veterans have received support and regained their lives.

Here are some startling facts from the Center for American Progress and the Stand Down House websites:

1.    One third of the homeless in American are veterans.

2.    Between 500,000 to 800,000 veterans will be homeless for some time during the year, and 100,000 to 300,000 live in shelters or on the street, on any given night.

3.    968,000 veterans are living in poverty.

4.    1.2 million took advantage of mental health services in recent years.

5.    45% of our homeless vets suffer from PTSD

6.    One in ten of the homeless veterans are disabled due to injuries sustained at war.

7.    The number is increasing – more than 20,000 wounded during the Iraq and Afghanistan war.

8.    2 million Americans fought for Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom, many have repeated deployments, and the average age is 35 on their return.

9.    Unemployment for veterans aged 18-24 was 33% compared to 15% for non vets of the same age.

10.  The new generation of vets are suffering from PTSD and TBI-traumatic brain  injury- which is making it harder for them to readjust to society.

I was humbled during my research to discover this information, and I have the utmost respect for every man and woman in uniform that fought for our freedom so that we, as Americans, can continue to live as we do in this great country of ours. 

For more information, please visit: www.Standown.org.

A Hero Lies Within

Old secrets linger and two reunited lovers are faced with more deception and mistrust. Can their love survive a second time around?

Tara Winslow is a Palm Beach news reporter, fighting not only to keep her job, but take over the nightly anchor spot. Her boss has axed her special runaway series, and wants “feel good stories”. She has only two weeks to come up with something big, or the special series will be taken over by the new anchorman who seems determined to ruin her career.

Jake Harrington has returned from two tours in Iraq, and this wounded warrior is searching only for peace. Instead, he runs into Tara Winslow, the girl he once loved and wronged, through no fault of his own. Refusing his friendship, she agrees to help him search for a family friend who has gone missing since his return from Iraq. In return Tara requests upbeat, happy-ending stories about the everyday heroes he served with, the men and women who never received recognition but went above and beyond the call of duty. His memory is sketchy at best, and the only stories he remembers are the ones she doesn’t want to hear.

Jake Harrington left her once when her life was falling apart, and now he’s back, and so are all the emotions she fought hard to expel. Can she forget his bitter betrayal, and will he forgive hers when to save her career she must betray his trust?

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