INTHEVUE.COM | SEPTEMBER 2024 75 Working as a full-time mental health clinician at Four Rivers Behavioral Health in Paducah, Lainey says she has been able to pair her educational expertise with her experience as a military spouse to better equip fellow clinicians. “I also founded Project Reforged as an education effort to empower those working in high trauma exposure environments and their families to address mental health needs on their terms.” She said within this space, she can work with military community members to face the “hard truths” so spouses feel validated in the challenges they are experiencing and the appropriate resources can be deployed to help them navigate those challenges. In addition to her other volunteer efforts, Crown also serves as the Chair of the Suicide Prevention Task Force at Military Special Operations Family Collaborative (MSOFC) helping to implement curriculum on healthy checkpoints to support Special Operations service members and their families. Often times facing turbulent emotional battles, Lainey says she has found that military-connected clients seem to feel more confident in openly confiding to her as she is able to respond and provide assistance from a place of knowing - a unique balance of her education and life experience as a military spouse. She uses that balance to contribute to her efforts on the Shield Maiden’s Team where she works to develop programs to meet the needs of military spouses – some needs you would never think to consider. “In the past year, I know of military spouses who were trying to find transportation to and from chemotherapy treatment while their spouses were deployed. Most haven’t even considered how difficult this would be for a family living away from home while their spouse is away serving.” Another common issue faced by military families is childcare, especially during deployment or if a Guard member’s spouse must work on weekends while the other parent is away at drill. “There are just no resources out there for this right now, and while I think it is getting better, these families still need support today.” It is for this reason Lainey says one of her goals is to bring more awareness around what we can do to support service men and women and their families as a community. “I am not sure many people even realize how many military families we have living in our communities – there are National Guard units in Paducah, Benton, and Murray – in fact, one in 10 Kentuckians are connected to a military service member or Veteran.” Of the ways we can offer assistance, Lainey offers the following suggestions: “Business owners can seek to hire service members, Veterans, and their spouses, who are often underemployed due to service-related employment gaps, which not only supports the individual, but of course, their family, as well. We have to respect their challenges, understand their circumstances, and honor their service.” She said it is not unusual to find that businesses will avoid hiring military service members because of possible deployments and, of course, she adds, “There is the assumption that every service member has PTSD, but that is not accurate.” The community can help to support military families in other ways as well, she notes, especially during a deployment. “Offer to take a meal by, run some errands, or perhaps offer to mow the yard – just to take one thing off their plate can be a tremendous help.” Having been named AFI 2024 Maryland National Guard Spouse of the Year, Lainey works tirelessly to bridge the gap in services that are available to not only military service personnel but law enforcement families as well. She works full time, seems to volunteer full-time, and is a mom of three active children, as well as being a dedicated advocate for these families. Lainey says she is hopeful that articles such as this one allows her to have a greater megaphone to spread her message of advocacy and to empower leaders to make needed changes, adding much needed and very overdue resources and support. The Kentucky National Guard is comprised of approximately 7,500 soldiers, and since September 11, 2001, has mobilized and deployed more than 18,000 soldiers and airmen in global conflicts.
