Son’s Deployment to Iraq Leads MSW Student to Create a Foundation to Assist Soldiers Returning From the War

Like any mother, Sondra Julian worried when she learned her 22-year-old son was heading to Iraq last December.

But Julian, who lives in Chesterton and was studying to earn a Master's of Social Work degree at IU Northwest, decided to do more than just worry. She created the Military Heros Foundation.

As a parent, Julian dealt with the news of her son leaving for Iraq by firmly holding onto the belief he would return home. "I have to believe he is coming home safe physically because otherwise I couldn't get through it," Julian acknowledged.

Still, she knew anyone serving in a war could come home with injuries even if they weren't physical ones. "I was concerned about what we were facing mentally."

She started doing research and found the numbers of troops coming home that needed help because of post traumatic disorder or PTSD outweighed the help available at Veteran Administration clinics.

"I found out there are so many guys and gals needing help, the VA is overwhelmed," Julian said. She discovered some soldiers had to wait a year or more for mental health care.

So Julian began thinking, how nice it would be if there was something extra waiting for soldiers when they got home. "I know with this problem, the sooner you get hold of it and get treatment, the sooner you can get it under control," she noted.

Otherwise, she knew soldiers may turn to alcohol and drugs to self-medicate to deal with their problems. If they do, then an individual's problem can become a communal one if the veteran loses their job and goes on welfare or is out driving under the influence, she explained.

"That's how I am approaching this," Julian said. "It is not just an individual problem, but a communal problem.'

The idea quickly took over her life. She spent hours every day thinking about it. "I couldn't sleep," she recalled.

She had a vision of a network of doctors across the country that returning veterans could turn to immediately for help after arriving back home. After all, Julian noted, a lot of vets live in communities where there aren't any VA facilities and the closest one may be three to four hours away.

Julian thought wouldn't it be great if the veterans were able to visit a local doctor for help and then the doctor could simply bill an organization directly for the cost of seeing the veteran, sidestepping any insurance issues. The network would simply be supplemental to what other benefits a solider receives from the VA, she noted.

To do that, Julian realized she would have to start a foundation. Knowing nothing about creating a foundation, she turned back to the internet again and began finding out how to do just that, which in turn lead to the creation of the Military Heros Foundation.

Julian, who has a 19-year-old daughter at IU Northwest and a son in high school, said creating a foundation to assist veterans was the farthest thing she had in mind when she returned to school six years ago to complete her undergraduate degree in continuing studies last year.

Julian is a veteran herself, serving in the Army from 1984-1987 and served in Germany. She decided she wanted to become a school social worker and return to Germany to work in an American high school on an American base there.

It was the perfect plan, she decided. By the time she got her degree, her youngest son would be ready to graduate from high school. She would work overseas for 20 years and retire and retire with a pension.

But her son leaving for Iraq led her to decide to temporarily take a leave from the master's degree program while she got the foundation established. Working with an attorney and a CPA, she went to work to gain a 501 C-3 status for the foundation as a non-profit organization, and then begin the task of raising money to pay for the help Julian hopes to provide to soldiers.

"I don't know why I thought I could even do something like this," Julian said of her endeavors. But her son had faith in her ability to do it, even giving her $500 towards getting the foundation up and running.

At some point, Julian intends to return to school to finish her social work degree even if she ends up running the foundation in the years to come.

"It's kind of funny how it seems like it has all led up to this, like it was meant to be and I just didn't know it."

For more information about the foundation go to www.mheros.org.

For information about the story contact Rob Schneider, Indiana University School of Social Work at 317-278-0303 or at robschn.iupui.edu.