July 4th may have celebrated our nation’s independence, but on July 15th the Women’s Bureau of the U.S. Department of Labor and U.S.Vets, Inc. hosted California’s first Homeless Female Veteran Stand Down at Bixby Park in Long Beach, CA. ICDC College was among many vendors who had the opportunity to honor our nation’s female veterans and their families with information and free services, including medical and mental healthcare, legal, financial assistance, employment services, on-site day care, and not to mention free food, clothes and other supplies.
ICDC College’s Massage Therapy female students from the Hollywood, Huntington Park and South Bay campuses came out to support and pamper the many women veterans in attendance with hand, feet, neck, shoulder and full body massages for the whole day. All the massages were free, and lasted anywhere from five minutes to one hour, depending on the needs and wants of those veterans who participated. For those male veterans who came to actively support their female comrades, ICDC College male massage therapy students were on hand to provide similar services. All massages provided by ICDC College Massage Therapy students were supervised under the direction of the college’s massage therapy instructors.
“The services there were wonderful. It’s nice that so many people want to support women vets. It’s about time!” said U.S. Army veteran Eiu-Jo Marquez, who attended the event.
Marine veteran Mark Ho agreed. “Events like these not only help spread the word and provide services but they allow us to honor our women veterans, providing them a comfortable atmosphere which they can relate to.”
Of the more than 23 million veterans in the United States, 1.8 million are women, with research suggesting that 81-93% have been exposed to some type of trauma (Zinzow et al., 2007). Women veterans represent the most underserved population in all of the armed forces combined. As such, ICDC College Massage Therapy students wanted to show their loyalty and support to our warriors by providing a full day of pampering, as a small token for all the sacrifices they have made – fighting for our country and our freedom. Pictures of ICDC College’s Massage Therapy students were also featured on a slideshow on the U.S. Department of Labor website.
ICDC College Massage Therapy instructor Pete Casas from the Hollywood campus was happy that his students were able to serve female and male veterans, some for the very first time. “My students and I were honored to service our veterans in this memorable event. ICDC College students wanted to make sure we demonstrated professionalism, courtesy, and compassion to all our veterans who have served this country.”
For more information about ICDC College’s outreach to veterans, please visit ICDC College’s Department of Veteran and Military Affairs website.
For more information about our graduation rates, the median debt of students who completed the program, and other important information, please visit our website (http://icdccollege.edu/).
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