Suicide Prevention

Call or text 988

988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline: https://988lifeline.org/

Hello,


If nature is not part of the solution to improve mental health then one does not have a solution. 


If you know veterans who want to improve mental health by improving brain chemistry by hiking in nature, I offer completely FREE hikes for them. They can request them on demand by simply sending an email to RonSemanEvent@Gmail.Com


The veteran or veteran organization just needs to include the following information:

  1) Their name

  2) Their organization name if applicable (Most hikes are requested by individual veterans)

  3) The Indiana Dunes National Park location where they would like to hike OR a description of the type of hike they would like and I will pick the location

  4) The date or dates they would like to hike

  5) The cell number of the person requesting so we can maintain communication at all times in case the Indiana Dunes National Park has an emergency closure at a selected location

  

I will then work with them to determine a start time for the hike fitting it into the other hikes I am doing that day. In 2021 I led six hundred and twelve (612) hikes everyday of the year in ALL weather conditions. In 2022 I will have had more than 612 hikes. 


The Indiana Dunes National Park has the #4 biodiversity of all National Parks in America; however, it has the greatest biodiversity density in America because all of the species are contained in 15,349 acres. The more species that one is exposed to the more access one has to a diverse set of microbes to build their microbiome. Why does that matter? A human has ten times as many microbial cells compared to human cells. Microbes generate the brain chemicals and tune the rest of the body. 


Cell ratio of microbial to human reference: 

https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/nih-human-microbiome-project-defines-normal-bacterial-makeup-body#:~:text=Methods%20and%20Results,vital%20role%20in%20human%20health.


Relationship of microbes to the brain reference:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4367209/


A brief article that appeared in the October/November issue of AARP Magazine about what I do: 

https://photos.app.goo.gl/hDRMZNCE6f3PkdNK7


I sincerely hope that every veteran you come in contact with can at least learn the role that nature has in impacting their mental and physical health and even better hike.



NOTE: If you can't make a regularly scheduled hike, please email RonSemanEvent@Gmail.Com and ask about another date that you and/or a group would like to hike and we can figure out the exact time to hike. They are all FREE. WE can hike any day and every kind of weather just like when you served and delivered our FREEDOM.


The United States Congress' House Committee on Veterans' Affairs


This is the link to the members of the House Committee On Veterans' Affairs as is the box on the left.

https://veterans.house.gov/about/members



A video of the House Committee Hearing on Veteran Suicide Prevention: Innovative Research and Expanded Public Health Efforts held on September 22, 2021 

(9/22/21,  9/22/2021) YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/HouseVeteransAffairs

Last updated 12.11.22