“When veterans get back from overseas service, people don’t know what they have been through,” she said. “They haven’t experienced the same things their military brothers and sisters have experienced.
This past Saturday, she held her inaugural Hounds for Heroes at Benninghofen Park in Lindenwald, which was designed to bring veterans together and possibly adopt a dog from the Animal Friends Humane Society. Hoskins organized this event with a 17Strong microgrant and a funding support through Envision Partnerships.
Credit: Michael D. Pitman
Credit: Michael D. Pitman
Hoskins said she wanted to incorporate the shelter because pets can help with a person’s mental health.
“They can be a very good friend who is alone,” she said. “It’s a friend that you know will stick with you, and it helps gets dogs and other pets off the streets.”
Veterans are at nearly a 60% higher risk of suicide than those who have not served, StopSoldierSuicide.org. Hoskins said suicide rates for veterans “have been high over the past three or four years.”
Suicide is the leading cause of death in veterans under age 45, according to the Ohio Suicide Prevention Foundation. In 2022, more than 6,400 veterans died by suicide, which was more than in 2021, according to the Ohio Suicide Prevention Foundation.
“Right here in our county, unfortunately, we’ve already lost eight veterans from January until right now,” said Kristen Smith, manager of Mental Health Promotion with Envision Partnerships and chair of the Butler County Suicide Prevention Coalition. “Having a place for veterans to meet, to talk and not fight loneliness and isolation, that’s a lot about what this event is about.”
Smith said that supporting events like Hounds for Heroes supports not only the mission of the event but also the young people behind it.
Hoskins said she already knows at 16 years old this is what she wants to do for her career. She has seen “all kinds of support” for various events and charities in her tight-knit community, “and I want to use this support to bring to light this group of people.”
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