CLAYTON, New York (March 29, 2015) – The Antique Boat Museum (ABM), North America’s premier freshwater nautical museum based in Clayton, New York, announced today that the Museum and River Hospital, located in Alexandria Bay, will be honored during the 7th annual Nonprofit Awards for their 2014 collaboration relating to the River Community Wellness Program (RWCP) for soldiers suffering with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
In May 2014, the ABM and River Hospital kicked-off a publicity campaign highlighting the importance of the RWCP and for the first time provided public access to the emotional compositions created by soldiers in the program.
The RCWP at River Hospital was
instituted to provide intensive outpatient behavioral health services for active
duty military personnel stationed at Fort Drum, while providing continuity of
care for soldiers transitioning from an inpatient stay. It also serves as an
intensive intervention option for mental health services locally to reduce
potential admissions of service members to an inpatient level of care, focusing
instead on building coping skills and supports in the community. RCWP is the
only program of its kind in the United States and keeps military members close
to home while they are healing and learning to cope, using multiple forms of
therapies such as Cognitive Processing Therapy, Group and Individual Therapy,
Movement Therapy, Peer to Peer Therapy, Imaginal and In Vivo Exposure Therapy,
as well as Psychiatry and Medication Management.
Through this partnership, the artwork
and creative writing that had been created in recent years as part of Creative
Arts Therapy went on display to the public at the ABM in an effort to share the
pain and effect of being a soldier. Also, participants in the RCWP were given
the opportunity to explore the region’s beauty by climbing aboard one of the
Museum’s in-water fleet boats to cruise the islands for relaxation and
meditation time, as required by the program.
In addition, River Hospital served as
the Official Sponsor of the Armed Forces at the Museum throughout the 2014
season, underwriting admission fees for more than 500 soldiers, as well as the
admission fees of all active and retired military members during the historic
50th annual Antique Boat Show which was held August 1-3. As part of the Boat
Show festivities, Boston Legal actor Mark Valley made an appearance to sign
autographs and help raise funds for RCWP.
The 7th annual Nonprofit Awards are
presented by M&T Bank, with support from Business Journal News Network, ABC
Creative Group and BizEventz. The awards luncheon will take place on Tuesday, March 31, 2015 at the SRC Arena on Onondaga Community College campus, Syracuse.
