Seward Park Audubon Center is partnering with Veteran's Rites and The Mission Continues.
VeteranRites calls active duty and prior service members of all generations to step into the Veterans Circle of Return, where we return to deep solidarity with one another through conversations that get to the heart of the matter.

We get each other's back by listening and speaking from the veteran heart in a way that truly honors what you’ve been through, who you really are, and where you’re going.

Using the practice of council we make sure everyone has a chance to lay down what is aching to be shared and held by those that get you in confidence. New beginnings, life challenges, pains from service, screams of joy, your comedy routine, it’s all good here. 
Bring your whole self, fall in, speak and bear witness one at a time.  With a question like, “What is something you’ve been struggling with lately, but also something you’re proud of?”

Then.. 
Speak from the Heart
Listen from the Heart
Always get to the Heart of the matter
More presence, less thinking
Simply bear witness, no response required, and hold in confidence. 
Then do it as much as possible. 

“Hey bros, let’s rally up for an after-action unit SLAM” or “Hey sister, we would like to hold a veterans SLAM to hear about what it’s really like to be a woman veteran,” or “Get to the campfire for a family SLAM!” 

Like any real slam to the ground, it may shake us up a bit, but remember, we have our people to hold it with so we leave a little lighter.  
VeteranRites will be partnering with Seward Park Audubon in the fall of 2019 to combine arms with consistent Veteran Circles of Return and kickass conservation opportunities that reenlist our veterans to support our lands, our feathery friends, and most of all, each other. 
Come on down and bring that battle buddy requiring some radical kinship, even after they say they don’t need it.

If you are interested in starting a Circle of Return in your neighborhood, at your VSO, place of faith, or wherever, contact council@veteranrites.org and fall in.

VeteranRites Circles of Return are places of belonging for all current and prior service members, including womxn, LGBTQ, and minority veterans. We are in this together. 

Here is our schedule of programs and events that veterans and their families are welcome to attend free of charge.