ACS Green Press

Army Community Service (ACS) Fort Drum, September 2012

Regarding Resilience

Can You Really

Bounce Back?

2

BOSS Grand Open-ing

3

New You Now-a

Road to Somewhere

4

In the Spotlight 5

Working From

Home

6

Benefits of Early

Literacy –Family

Advocacy Program

7

EFMP Summer Camp 2012

8

ACS Events and

classes

9

ACS Contacts 10

Inside this issue:

~A tree free newsletter Direct questions / feedback To: Sarah Lynch : 772-5374 sarah.l.lynch@us.army.mil

Army Community Service

(ACS) is often thought of as the

place to go when you’re going

through some sort of crisis. For

instance, when you are experi-

encing a financial emergency

you visit Army Emergency Re-

lief, or when you are having

relationship problems your first

thought is to utilize the Family

Advocacy Program or a Military

Life Consultant. We are proud

to offer these services to our

Soldiers and Families and it is

our primary goal that all Soldiers

and Families in need seek help,

first and foremost, from ACS.

ACS offers many programs de-

signed to enhance resilience and

independence in the Soldiers,

Families, retirees and DOD

civilians that make up the com-

munity of Fort Drum. These

programs promote Family

physical, mental and emotional

wellbeing and financial security.

The programming is, of course,

available in times of crisis but it

is equally important to note that

ACS offers programming that is

more than just a band aide.

Army Community Service –More Than Just a Band aide

ACS offers something for

everyone in any stage of life.

Our goal is two-fold. First,

that in times of need Soldiers

and Families “think ACS

first!” Second, that Soldiers

and Families think of ACS as

more than just a quick fix

during times of need. In-

stead, we want Soldiers and

Families to come by ACS and

explore the many possibilities

for personal growth and self

development.

If you’re interested in learning

more about what ACS has to

offer, come by our building

for a personal tour and a list

of upcoming events, classes

and meetings.

“Think ACS First!”

ACS offers opportunities for con-

tinuing education, volunteerism,

self exploration and self develop-

ment. Our secondary goal is to

develop and promote these op-

portunities to our community

members as a way to develop a

sense of community and belong-

ing while simultaneously strength-

ening independence and personal

strength. While that may seem

like an oxymoron, it makes per-

fect sense. Any whole is greater

than its individual parts. We live

with mission in mind therefore,

supporting our Soldiers and Fami-

lies in turn supports our mission.

The continuing education like

parenting classes, stress and anger

management and master resilience

training strengthens us as indi-

viduals, parents and spouses. The

classes offered through Employ-

ment Readiness and Army Family

Team Building can develop skills

to enhance our resumes and in-

crease our employment market-

ability. The spouse groups offer

an opportunity to form friend-

ships, develop networks and serve

as an outlet to de-stress, socialize,

give and gain support. All in all,

If you have an hour, will you

not improve that hour,

instead of idling it away?

Lord Chesterfield

ACS Green Press September 2012 Page 2

Regarding Resilience: Tips, tools and techniques for practicing resilience

everyday!

By Jenn Eichner, MRT 772-2848

Boy did I have a moment this past weekend that made me remember a key fact about resiliency – you do not just know it, you have to practice it. Even though I am a master resilience trainer and teach resilience skills on a daily basis, I still have to be reminded to put it all to use in my own life. This was just one of my wake up calls: On Sunday, I was watching my son’s baseball game. All was well. My mind was a little heavy with some everyday life realities, but I was using the time to let all that go and enjoy the game. My son is very into sports. He enjoys playing, practicing and always wants the latest and greatest tools to play the game. This included a $129.00 wood bat. He told me, “it was unbreak-able”, I bought it for him. So, a few innings into the game an-other player took a swing and upon making contact, the bat he was using split in two. Moments later I found out that he had used my son’s bat that time up to the plate. I lost it. I walked right INTO THE DUG OUT and asked my son if that was really his bat that was broken. He looked at me in total embarrassment (as the rest of the team of 15-18 year old boys were also sitting in the dugout), and simply said, “Yes, mom it was”. I rolled right on with my out of control emo-tions and informed all the boys in the dugout, that “contrary to popular be-lief, I do not pay to outfit anyone else on the team but him.” I walked and

ranted more to anyone who would listen. Then I took a moment to think about what had just happened and listened to not only the words coming out of my mouth but also to that little voice telling me that I was not handling this activating event in a pro-ductive way. The resilience rocket had fi-nally hit me. I walked away, sat by myself for some time and worked through several of the resil-ience practice skills. Was I caught in a thinking trap? No not really. Did I go directly from activating event to emotion and not think about what got me there? Yes, I did. I was feeling a sense of danger (something bad is going to happen and I can’t handle it) which led me to feel anxiety and agitation. Then I thought about my iceberg beliefs and I became conflicted. I believe in teamwork and giving 100% for the team. My son allowing a teammate to use his bat is ok and I also believe in being a realist - the bat is made of wood, they break. So what was I really upset about? I asked the tough “what” questions – par-ticularly – what is it that is really bothering me? I was in tune with the answer almost immediately. It was part of my everyday life realities that was the problem. I had been stressing over my budget for a little while. I was trying to fix things and I was not finding myself on the road to success. I tucked away this reality to watch the game, but when the activating event oc-curred, it is precisely what I reacted to. I was anxious about being asked to purchase another bat. The bat cost money and money and I were not in a good place at the present time.

Can You Really Bounce Back by Using Resilience Skills?

I learned a lot from this experience. Most importantly was the satisfaction of knowing that I can slip off the resilient path, but get back on it rather quickly if I just take the time to think. I also learned that trying to ignore challenges and hide them from others is not the resilient way. I felt so good when I sat off to the side and thought of a list of several names of folks who could help me. I had exposed my frustrations and now had to deal with them. The anxiety left me and I no longer felt agitated. I was ready to apolo-gize to my son. I truthfully explained what was really behind my reaction and told him that I would get him a new bat once I had taken care of a few necessities. He hugged me, right in front of his team and said, “thanks, mom.” Side note – life is truly good. I actually found the 2 month old receipt for the bat and found that the bat was warranted for 90 days. The sporting goods store re-funded my money. All worked out, as it usually does, but still holding off on buy-ing another bat! Do you have a similar story to share? Email me as I would love to share it with others, Jennier.e.eichner.civ@mail.mil Practice your resilience. And when it does not go so well, bounce back and be even better! Have a great month – good luck and good thoughts!

MRT Fall Marathon! 17-20 September

All modules covered, 9:30—2:30 pm held at the Workforce Development Building

Page 3 ACS Green Press September 2012

Looking for what the North Country has to offer you?

North Country Exploration Expo! (formerly Super Sign-up)

Local Chambers

Tourism Councils

Employers

Clubs

Volunteer Opportunities

September 6, 2012

9 am - 2 pm

The Commons

ACS Outreach attended the grand opening of

the Better Opportunity for Single Soldiers

(BOSS) Satellite building located at the Jack T.

Sweet Complex on Fort Drum.

The Family of PFC Jack T. Sweet, cut the ribbon

for the new facility housed in the Complex

named for their son. PFC Jack Sweet served with

2-22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat

Team, when he gave the ultimate sacrifice for his

country on February 8, 2008. Jack a native of

Alexandria Bay, NY, entered the Army in April

2007. His awards and decorations include the

Purple Heart, Army Good Conduct Medal, Na-

tional Defense Service Medal, Iraq Campaign

Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal,

Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon

and Combat Infantryman Badge.

BOSS and Army Community Service extends a

heart felt thank you to PFC Jack T. Sweet, and

all service members who serve their country.

We are proud to serve you!

CSM Mark Oldroyd, Glenn Sweet and Penny Hawley cut

the ribbon officially opening the new satellite BOSS center.

“If nothing ever changed, there’d be

no butterflies”

~author unknown

The New You Now Women’s Empowerment Group– a Road to Somewhere

hope you will find not only enter-

taining but educational and empow-

ering. Within the ranks of the mili-

tary spouses there is an incredible

and diverse group of people. They

are smart, talented and beautiful.

However, too often as military

wives theses same incredible people

put their husband, their husband’s

careers, their children and even the

Family dog above and before their

own needs. When they do that, they

forget how incredible they are. New

You Now hopes to help you set

intentions for you; not for you to be

lost in the shuttling of children,

back to school worries, or the fears

and uncertainties that arise with a

looming deployment. New You

Now teaches Spouses to remember

to take care of themselves.

We will begin the group with vision

boards, each one of us will decide

when and where we see ourselves

going. Vision Boards can be power-

ful visualization tools that help the

creator begin to manifest their

dreams into reality. There will be

opportunities to learn about cook-

ing, health, nutrition, make up, pho-

tography and fitness to just name a

few. This is a group that drives

itself. The intent is to learn from

each other, to uncover and share the

gifts unique to each group member.

Like everything in life, this group

requires you to be discerning, to

take responsibility for yourself, to

listen to the voices that question if

something is right for you or

whether that behavior or activity is

one that will ultimately benefit you

and others around you. New You

Now can be a vehicle for change, a

chance to give back, an opportunity

to learn, but ultimately it is a vehicle

that the participants can steer in any

direction.

Come join our group and bring your

talents to the table. For more infor-

mation call 772-5374/6566/6902 or

772-6902.

People often make a trip to ACS

only when they have an emergency.

ACS is much more than that, it is a

building where you can take classes,

learn to sew, and make new friends.

Relocation Readiness has the oppor-

tunity to meet new Soldiers and

Family members when they first

arrive at Fort Drum. During these

first encounters, one thing always

stands out- spouses bring with them

a vast array of experiences and tal-

ents from every walk of life. When

we thought about these new com-

munity members, it struck us that

we needed to provide an avenue to

network them with each other so

that they could share their talents

and experiences to empower each

other. It was with this in mind, that

New You Now group was envi-

sioned. Through this group, ACS is

offering an opportunity to foster

awareness, to get to know yourself,

make new friends, to learn from

each other and to make conscious

choices in your life.

The New You Now is a group of-

fering the opportunity to have fun

and learn new things; things that we

“A woman is a full circle.

Within her is the power to

create, nurture and

transform.”

-Diane Mariechild

author

Page 4 ACS Green Press September 2012

Page 5 ACS Green Press September 2012

Recently, Kaya and Tala Zehler visited

Army Community Service Relocation

Readiness with their mom. The girls

moved here from Fort Bliss with their

Dad Michael who is a Sergeant Major

with the 63rd Ordinance Battalion and

their mom Suzette.

The girls are both excited and appre-

hensive about starting first grade in the

Carthage School District. “I don’t

want to get shots” Kaya explained.

However, she is looking forward to

math, lunch and recess where Kaya

enjoys playing on the monkey bars the

best! Tala on the other hand, is look-

ing forward to counting and working

with numbers, and art because she

loves to color. Tala explained that she

is pretty good at counting in Spanish.

Both girls are full of energy (they re-

ferred to themselves as the “rock and

roll twins”) and are ready to start their

new adventure. They played with the

ACS Relocation Readiness Program

“Think ACS First” Stress Cows while

their mom signed up for the New-

commer’s Tour and learned about all

the great ACS programming available

to her and her Family.

What struck me about the Family was

their positive attitude. They viewed

Fort Drum as their next great adven-

ture. It was a pleasure to meet the

Zehlers and welcome them to the Fort

Drum Community!

“Think ACS First!”

Building Community: In the Spotlight

ACS welcomes Kaya and Tala Zehler to Our Community!

International Spouse Group

Visited the Carthage Farmer’s Market

Dancing at the Farmer’s Market

Page 6 ACS Green Press September 2012

As you get ready to send the kids off to

school are you thinking about how you

will keep yourself busy? Have you

thought about working from home?

Working from home is the wave of the

future, government reports show

working from home has increasingly

become an option for many men and

women. People are looking for ways to

combine their careers with their home

life in order to spend more time with

their families and less time commuting

to and from work. For many military

spouses, working from home is an ideal

way to make money without worrying

about juggling your work schedule and

long list of responsibilities of running

your household during deployments.

Here are some reasons why it is great

to work from home:

Gain Personal Freedom – You can

shape your work around your life:

work at night, work on the weekends,

and best of all do what you like! To

succeed you will need good time man-

agement skills and be disciplined to

push yourself to work hard!

Be with Your Family – Many busi-

ness owners decide to start their at

home business to be with Family mem-

bers and have their Family members

involved in their businesses. You may

still need daycare arrangements so you

can really concentrate on your work;

however you can change your work

hours to best fit your Family’s needs.

Reduce Stress – Working at home

can reduce the stress of juggling the

demands of work and home life. You

can take your 15 minute break and do

dishes, or start dinner. Since you often

work alone there are no office politics

and deadlines that you would need to

stress over. You only need to follow

the deadlines and goals YOU set for

yourself!

Financial and Tax Advantages –

The convenience of not having to

drive to work, or shop for expensive

work clothes, along with the tax write

off of having an at home office can

increase your income just by working

from home.

Increase Productivity & Job En-

richment – With less time comment-

ing there is more time to work! Most

importantly you work for yourself and

want to have your business shine! You

are also given the opportunity to be

creative; you are not only the business

owner, but the boss, marketing spe-

cialists, secretary and budgeting ex-

pert.

If you find any of the listed benefits of

working from home appealing, maybe

you should consider working from

home as an option for you.

The Army Community Service Em-

ployment Readiness Program (ERP)

has designed an employment event

geared for those who wish to work

from home. ERP has lined up people

who work from home to come to

ACS for an informational career fair.

This event provides those interested in

working from home, a forum to dis-

cuss the possibilities with people who

have a first hand knowledge of the

process. For more information on

working from home and to talk to

business owners attend the ACS Em-

ployment Readiness Program Work

From Home Career Fair on Septem-

ber 26 from 9:30-11:30 at ACS.

Thinking About Working From Home?

“All have wishes, many have dreams,

some have ideas, few have plans” -

William Arthur Ward

ACS – Employment Readiness

Program Informational Work

from Home Career Fair on

September 26th from 9:30-11:30 at

ACS.

September 8, is International

Literacy Day. When people

think about literacy, the big-

gest thing that comes to mind

is the act of reading. Often

one does not think about the

deeper meaning of literacy.

There have been countless

studies to determine the

benefits of reading to your

child. Not only does reading

to your child benefit them

cognitively by fostering a love

for reading, increasing vo-

cabulary, and building the

language neural connections

in their brains but also devel-

ops a bond between you and

your child. The act of read-

ing to your child promotes a

sense of intimacy and well-

being.

The Family Advocacy Pro-

gram (FAP), along with New

Parent Support, have many

resources to support you and

your child through their de-

velopmental years.

The Active Parenting Work-

shop is for parents between

the ages of 1 and 4. In this

workshop, parents will

learn:

Techniques to build

strong bonds through

understanding them-

selves and their children

Identifying effective

parenting styles

How to encourage posi-

tive behavior

Strategies to be active

parents through their

child’s growth and de-

velopment

Another class offered

through FAP’s New Parent

Support Program that nur-

tures a bond with your child

early on in the formative

years is the Infant Massage

class. Research shows the

benefits of infant massage

include nurturing babies’

psychological, physiological

and developmental growth.

Using gentle massage tech-

niques calms and relaxes

your baby so he can pay

attention to the world

around him. This relaxed

state is a wonderful time for

you to read to your infant.

Books written for infants

include sweet, repetitious

phrases that when said in a

soothing tone can be very

beneficial.

If you would like to learn

some of these techniques or

are interested in other par-

enting resources and classes

offered through the Family

Advocacy Program, call 772

-4244 or 772-0748.

Remember, the formative

years pass quickly, use every

tool available to you in or-

der to build a strong foun-

dation for your child’s

bright future.

“Think ACS First!”

Benefits of Early Literacy-Family Advocacy Program

“There are many little ways to

enlarge your child’s world. Love of

books is the best of all

-Jacqueline Kennedy

Page 7 Newsletter T i t le September 2012

Active Parenting Workshop

September 11,12 & 14

9am to 11am

ACS

There are many little

ways to enlarge your

child's world. Love

of books is the best

of all."

~ Jacqueline

Kennedy

Exceptional Family Member (EFMP) Summer Camp 2012

Page 8 Newsletter T i t le September 2012

EFMP Summer Camp 2012 was, conducted

between 6-10 August. This year 39 Campers

participated in a week of activities that in-

cluded white water rafting, roller skating,

games, arts and crafts as well as a trip to Old

Forge Water Safari and a Fishing Derby.

The highlight of the week was the interaction

between the children with special needs and

the 76 Soldier and civilian volunteers that self-

lessly gave their time to enhance the lives of

the EFMP campers. The volunteers devel-

oped an appreciation of the challenges and

joys of caring for a child with special needs.

Perhaps the best comment heard that week

was from a spouse who volunteered with her

Soldier who said “My husband and I have got-

ten so much out of this experience, he said he

now has a greater appreciation of what I do on

a day to day basis as a parent of our special

needs child.”

Page 9 ACS Green Press September 2012

ACS Events Calendar September 2012

Army Community Service

P4330 Conway Road

Fort Drum, New York

13602

Army Emergency Relief 772-6560, 772-8873 or 772-2855

Army Family Team Building http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000122037720

772-6710, 772-9229

Army Volunteer Program Coordinator http://www.facebook.com/pages/Fort-Drum-Army-volunteer-Corps/13651504365912

772-2899

Exceptional Family Member Program http://www.facebook.com/pages/Fort-Drum-FMWR-Exceptional-Family-Member-Program /104951319542718

772-5488, 772-0819, 772-0664

Employment Readiness Program http://www.facebook.com/fortdrumemployment

772-9611, 772-2737, 772-1090

Family Advocacy Program (New Parent Support Program) SAPRP

772-4244, 772-6929, 772-2279

772-0596, 772-4070, 772-0748

772-5605, 772-5914

Financial Readiness Program http://www.facebook.com/pages/Fort-Drum-financial-Readiness-ACS/1956662120473

772-0050, 772-5196, 772-8526

Information and Referral 772-6556, 772-6557

Military & Family Life Consultants 212-6919

Mobilization and Deployment http://www.facebook.com/pages/Fort-Drum-Mobiliztion-and-Deployment/178420512193448?ref=ts&v=wall

772-2848, 772-0470, 772-2919

Outreach http://www.facebook.com/pages/Fort-Drum-ACS-Outreach/180373271991692

772-5374

Relocation Readiness http:// www.facebook.com/pages/Fort -Drum -Relocation -Readiness Program/171335822906429

772-5475, 772-6553, 772-6902

772-6566

Soldier Family Assistance Center http://www.facebook.com/Fort.Drum.FMWR/SFAC

772-7781

Survivor Outreach Services http://www.facebook.com/fortdrumsurvivoroutreachservices

772-6357