76: Triumph over tragedy. Fighting for VA benefits and small mindset shifts that can transform your relationship with your challenges with Britnee Kinard

Today we have the honor of having retired Army spouse Britnee Kinard on the show. Britnee has a really unusual story and path in their families military life.

In 2005, Britnee’s now husband was catastrophically injured by an IED in Iraq. Britnee didn’t meet him until 2008 and they were married in 2010. From the time they were dating, Britnee has been fighting a battle against the VA for her husband to receive the benefits he has earned for his service and injuries.

Britnee shares her, lets’ call them “adventures” in fighting for her husband’s rights and transforming her life to accommodate taking care of her husband and the ramifications of his injuries. 

We then switch gears and talk about how to turn tragedy into triumph and the role their sons played in his continued recovery. Their son was diagnosed with autism at age 3 and the challenge of letting him know it’s ok to be different when Dad was still struggling to accept and talk about his own injuries forced a pivot for their family. 

They adopted the Dr Suess saying, “You have to be odd, to be number one”. Changing the mindset of denial about his injuries to how can I get the therapies I need to show my son thats its ok to get extra help, was truly a turning point for their family and his care. 

Britnee tells us about the program called CRSC which stands for Combat Related Special Compensation, which is funded and run through the DOD. Because her husband wasn’t treated properly immediately following his injuries in Iraq, he was eligible to kind of circumvent the VA process and receive care through CRSC.

If you are struggling with benefits with the VA and you have been deployed and seen combat while on active duty, you would qualify for the CRSC program.

https://www.dfas.mil/retiredmilitary/disability/crsc/

What other options are there for veterans who need more or better care?

The Wounded Warrior Project

The Semper Fi Fund or America’s Fund

There is another great organization out of South Carolina called Hidden Wounds

Or google organizations in your area. If you hit a dead end with one of these organizations as them if they have a referral partner.

We then switch gears to talk about the SD Gunner Fund which is a service dog training non profit Britnee started when she saw a need that wasn’t being met. She is truly a FORCE! We didn’t have a ton of time to get into the specifics of starting this organization, so Britnee graciously agreed to come back and talk about it.

https://view.flodesk.com/pages/63e17c34781752946ff2b424

https://www.organifishop.com/products/peak-power

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