By Soldiers and Families Embraced
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – The counselors and staff at the homegrown free counseling program Soldiers And Families Embraced (SAFE) are appreciating the forward thinking of the APSU students involved in the development and unveiling of their new logo, which is reflective of the current climate for military families.
“It seems fitting – and prescient – that SAFE is in the process of unveiling a new logo designed to better reflect their focus on the military families just as the number of military children seeking mental health care explodes,” said Rev. Jodi McCullah, Executive Director.
“We surpassed in June the number of children being brought in for counseling for all of last year. All indications are that the numbers will continue to climb,” McCullah said. “While we are a relatively small shop, this doubling of the numbers we’ve seen is undoubtedly reflective of an overall trend. We are regularly seeing parents walk in with several children and ask that all of them see counselors. Families who could not afford to think about the stress of nearly fourteen years of war and back-to-back deployments are now finding they have time to reflect. The stress has taken a toll and now entire families are struggling.”
The logo, which depicts a returning Soldier kneeling down to pick up a child, was the creation of Austin Peay State University students Jason Hartley and Brooke Diggs, who developed the design for a service learning class taught by Dr. Christina Hicks-Goldston, Assistant Professor in the Communication and Theater Department. Both students are from Clarksville and both are studying communications with a concentration in public relations. Service learning classes offer students chances to develop projects and work with real world agencies and businesses.
“The students in this media class asked if we would let them suggest another logo, one that reflects our focus on the affect of war on families and we agreed to let them try. The results were better than we could have hoped and we chose Jason and Brooke’s design to represent our mission,” McCullah said.
Brooke, who will be a senior, said that the service learning classes in general are good for students. “This was a great experience because usually we just sit in the classroom and so we don’t get that interaction with agencies and real world experience. This kind of experience will help in the future, too, because it will help me better know what to expect in a work environment and be better able to interact in business situations.”
Jason, who is set to graduate in December and who describes himself as a “military brat,” says that the desire to create a new logo for Soldiers And Families Embraced was spurred in part by the experiences of both his father and a brother who have served in the military and deployed in the last several years.
Both said they chose this particular design because they wanted to embrace the family aspect and provide a gentler image for the agency. Said Jason, “This design was sculpted around the concept of the innocence embodied in the child. I think it’s something that translates the humanitarian element of Soldiers And Families Embraced in a poignant way.”
Soldiers And Families Embraced (SAFE) has been serving military and their families since 2007, offering free, confidential, professional counseling to anyone affected by war. The program, which is supported by private grants and donations, also offers retreats several times a year and internships for social workers and counselors seeking to serve military families.
For more information, contact Rev. Jodi McCullah, Soldiers And Families Embraced @615-347-9071 or Jodi@safetn.org.