TRANSFORMING PAIN THROUGH ART: The Write to Heal Episode 3

Artist Soapbox * Audio fiction + Creative Process

Interview with Brooke Dickhart, Executive Director of The Joel Fund and Linda Giles, retired social worker with the Department of Social Work at Womack Army Medical Center.

THE WRITE TO HEAL: SOLDIERS DEEP DIVE INTO STORYTELLING

In this new, limited six-episode audio series, Artist Soapbox speaks with life-changers – people who champion creative writing as a catalyst for soldiers’ healing, as well as soldiers whose lives have been radically transformed through story. The interviews are conducted by Tamara Kissane, Artist Soapbox producer and 2020 Piedmont Laureate, with June Guralnick, 2022 Raleigh Medal of Arts recipient and creative writing teacher for veterans.

GUEST BIOS

BROOKE DICKHART is the Executive Director and Founder of The Joel Fund, a nonprofit in Wake Forest, N.C. that provides support services to veterans and their families. Brooke started The Joel Fund in honor of her dad who served as a Navy SEAL for almost twenty years. Brooke graduated from Virginia Tech and owned and operated an embroidery business, and from 2009-2012 was co-owner of a café and gift shop in downtown Wake Forest. Brooke lives in Raleigh with her husband and three children. For more info about The Joel Fund, visit: https://www.thejoelfund.org/.

LINDA GILES is a social worker and certified Gestalt therapist, and retired in June of 2013 from the Department of Social Work at Womack Army Medical Center, Fort Liberty, N.C. Linda’s background working with the trauma of abuse made her acutely aware of the trauma of war and the impact of PTSD on veterans' lives. Linda's extensive work history started in 1964, when she began as a caseworker for Abused and Neglected Children in Pennsylvania. She eventually taught parent education and became active in women’s issues and the impact of domestic violence on the family.

EPISODE LINKS

Brooke’s Digital Story

The Joel Fund

Transcript

CREDITS

• THE WRITE TO HEAL: SOLDIERS DEEP DIVE INTO STORYTELLING is a production of Artist Soapbox in partnership with June Guralnick.
• This series is dedicated to the memory of David Brave Heart.
• The intro montage is sound engineered by Royce Froehlich, and music in both the intro and outro are by David Brave Heart, with additional music by Louis Wilkinson.
• Post-production is by Tamara Kissane and Jasmine Hunjan.

WHEN I WRITE I FEEL… CONTRIBUTORS

• Jenny Bailey
• Linda Belans
• Gail Ashby Bryant
• Kammie DeGheto
• Chuck Galle
• Linda Giles
• June Guralnick
• PJ Harper
• Kirsten Howard
• Tamara Kissane
• Allie McDonald
• Ray Owen
• Shirley Perry
• Sande Southworth
• Scott Charles Whittemore
• Norah & Susannah

For more information, see artistsoapbox.org and juneguralnick.com.