Joseph C. Noto has now become a member of the Board of Heroes to Heroes Foundation, a non-denominational 501(c)(3) organization, which provides a suicide prevention/PTS (post-traumatic stress) management program for wounded veterans through spiritual healing and peer support. The Heroes to Heroes Foundation serves all combat veterans, regardless of conflict. Veterans of Vietnam, Desert Storm, Afghanistan, and Iraq have all participated in its program. It welcomes all who are having challenges with PTS or are having challenges returning to civilian life after their time serving our country. The program is designed to help the participants develop social and emotional bonds with one another while exploring their spirituality and pushing themselves phsycially. Teams meet via Skype to get to know one another prior to the journey and stay together via Skype and social media upon their return to the United States.
- Spiritually – Visits to holy sites such as Bethlehem, The Western Wall, Stations of the Cross, Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and the opportunity to be baptized in the River Jordan, offer soul-searching and inner peace regardless of belief.
- Emotionally – Planting trees for friends and family who were lost and in honor of people still with us (an ancient Jewish tradition) and visiting sites including Masada, battlefields and memorials, Yad Vashem (Holocaust Museum), and the 9/11 Memorial in Jerusalem provide reflection and self-examination.
- Physically – Cycling, swimming, sailing, kayaking, hiking, and keeping to an itinerary all push each participant physically and is an important part of the team-building experience.
- Socially – Team meetings to conclude each day, visits to veterans organizations, and bonding with Israeli partners help to redevelop social skills that may be repressed due to PTS, trauma and depression. Joe Noto, a Viet Nam veteran, is honored to have been selected to this Board and anxiously awaits helping the Board to send the participants to heal after having served our country. For further information, or if intesested to make a donation, go to www.heroestoheros.org.