European prince lends a hand to wounded U.S. soldiers:  launch of Wounded Soldier and Family Hotline supported by Azalea Charities & CrisisLink

With donations provided by Prince Leopold d’Arenberg of Belgium, Azalea Charities and CrisisLink have formed a partnership to assist in the training of Call Center Representatives for the U.S. Army’s new Wounded Soldier and Family Hotline (1-800-984-8523.) The purpose of this hotline, which opened on March 19th, offers wounded, injured, and ill Soldiers and their family members a way to share concerns on the quality of patient care, and provides senior Army leaders with visibility on medically-related issues so they can properly allocate resources to better serve soldiers and families. The Wounded Soldier and Family Hotline is staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

News of Prince d’Arenberg’s generous support has been welcomed with enthusiasm by Cathy Jackman of the Army’s Well Being Liaison Office, who remarked that the training would keep Call Center Representatives “in peak condition to provide the absolute best link” to the services that wounded Soldiers and their families need.

Prince d’Arenberg’s interest in the development of the Wounded Soldier and Family Hotline stems from the liberation by an American Lieutenant of his mother and her sisters from a Nazi death camp in 1945. The Prince’s support of the “Aid for Wounded Soldiers” program operated by Azalea Charities, has enabled this Northern Virginia-based regional non-profit organization to fund CrisisLink’s development and delivery of a training program for staff members of the newly created hotline.

CrisisLink, a nonprofit social service organization based in Arlington, VA, has provided trainings in suicide prevention, communication skills and stress management for several branches of the military for the past few years.  Since 1969, CrisisLink has been saving lives and preventing tragedies in the Greater Washington, D.C. region through: ** 24/7 Hotlines -- offering crisis response and intervention plus information and referrals ** You Talk, We Listen -- suicide and crisis prevention outreach to youth ** Tara Sirmans Survivor HOPE Program -- providing comprehensive survivor support ** CareRing -- daily phone check-in services for elderly and disabled shut-ins ** Crisis Response Team -- support for communities in the aftermath of trauma & disasters ** Community Education -- suicide prevention and crisis response trainings. Visit www.crisislink.org to learn more.

Additional projects supported by Azalea Charities’ “Aid for Wounded Soldiers” program include: the Fisher Houses rehabilitation and the Family Assistance Center, both at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, as well as other military medical and rehabilitation centers worldwide. For more information about Azalea Charities, please visit www.azaleacharities.org