'Mothers of Returning Soldiers' to Meet at the Spa Saturday

Laura Evans founded Mothers of Returning Soldiers in order to help parents of deployed military personnel deal with issues that arise after their veteran children return home from battle.

As a parent of a military veteran herself, Evans knows all too well the troubles and traumas that a family goes through when a soldier attempts to integrate back into civilian life.

On Saturday, May 11, Evans will host a workshop from 10 a.m. to noon at the Safety Harbor Resort and Spa to address the topic of  "we mothers who must continue to function, whether we want to or not.”

"This workshop is designed to develop stronger problem solving skills and confidence building tools to help us continue to not only function, but to approach in a positive way our personal unfinished mission and purpose in life." Evans wrote via email.

"It's a workshop created for mothers who have experienced the physical loss of a son or daughter serving in the military and for mothers who have experienced the mental or emotional loss of a changed returning warrior.'

Evans has been busy strengthening the organization since founding it earlier this year.

While she knew there were many services available for the veterans, often times they are unable to access these services; Evans quickly realized the parents weren't qualified to deal with the situations, either.

The unique thing about M.O.S. is that it is not a passive group; the goal is to train parents to be able to deal with the situations they will encounter when the veterans attempt to naviagte the real world upon returning home.

"The mothers will be trained on confidence building, problem solving skills and they will be trained to tell organizations, 'You need to take my son and do this for him'," she told Patch earlier this year.

"We need to be there to assist the families and to be there when needed and called upon."

Evans is slowly starting to expand the reach of the organization, and the workshop at the Spa is just one of the ways she hopes to help mothers in similar situations.

She knows from experience that the services the organization provides are working.

"My son has come a long way since I started doing this," she said. "I've seen the power of what this kind of training can do."

To attend Saturday's workshop at the Safety Harbor Spa and Resort, email Laura Evans at mothers.of.returning.soldiers@gmail.com or call 727-799-1410.

For more information on the Mothers of Returning Soldiers organization, visit their website at www.mothersofreturningsoldiers.com.

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