WELLNESS BULLETIN

Summer 2025

Hello Summer! The season of longer days and shorter nights is fast approaching, and while this promises to bring plenty of fun, we hope you will remember to bring self-care and safety along for the ride. As you plan your outdoor activities, be mindful of your environment and protect your skin from sunburn and insect bites that could potentially lead to sickness and health issues. Whether you are choosing to travel to new destinations, enjoy a BBQ with friends, or camp in your own backyard, make your whole health a priority … mind, body, and soul. Let’s make this the best summer ever!

Inside This Issue

Self-Care Highlight: Insect Protection
Your Support Team: Dermatology
Coming Up This Season: June is Post-Traumatic Stress (PTS) Awareness Month
Kids Health Highlight: Summer Wellness Tips
Kids Corner
Program Highlight: The Fund's Case Managers (CMs)
Announcements
Past Issues of Your Wellness Bulletin
Additional Resources and More!

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SELF-CARE HIGHLIGHT

Insect Protection

While the warmer weather gives us more excuses to be outdoors, it also brings the creepy crawlers out! Bugs, especially mosquitoes, ticks, fleas, and flies, can spread disease. It’s important to protect yourself and your loved ones, including pets, from these pests, especially when enjoying forested areas, hiking, camping, and all your summer adventures. If possible, wear long sleeves and long pants and stay on cleared trails. Avoid high grass and piles of leaves. Try to use a mosquito net and recognize that standing water and puddles are often a key indicator that mosquitoes are prevalent. Use an EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) registered insect repellent. When using both sunscreen and insect repellent, put on sunscreen first and once it dries, apply the insect repellent. Shower as soon as possible after being outdoors and inspect your body (including areas hidden by hair) for ticks. See image below for reminders of common areas ticks can hide.

YOUR SUPPORT TEAM

Dermatology

What is a Dermatologist?

Doctors that specialize in skin, hair, and nail conditions.

What are common conditions dermatologist treat?

Psoriasis
Eczema
Skin cancer
Acne
Rosacea
Allergic skin diseases
Ulcers

Interested in Seeing a Dermatologist?

Speak to your primary care doctor and ask for a referral to dermatology.

If you have an appointment with a dermatologist, here are some tips to prepare for the appointment:

Perform a self-exam and come to your appointment prepared with notes about any new, changing, or unusual spots you want to point out to your dermatologist. If you’ve taken smartphone photos of a spot that has changed over time, be sure to show them to your dermatologist.
Remove nail polish from your fingers and toes to enable thorough examination of fingers, nails, and nail beds, since skin cancers can form there.
Wear your hair loose. Remove ponytails, buns, or hair clips so that your doctor can get a good look at your scalp where skin cancers can, and do, develop.
Pack makeup remover to bring to your appointment and remove any makeup before your exam so that the skin around your eyes is easy to examine.
Ask questions. This is your opportunity to get valuable advice and insight from a professional trained specifically in diseases of the skin. From explanations of unfamiliar terms to pointers on how to do a skin self-exam, your doctor is an excellent source of information!

COMING UP THIS SEASON

June is Post-Traumatic Stress (PTS) Awareness Month

Our whole health depends on our commitment to ongoing growth and healing. Sometimes, we carry wounds that are not readily visible so they can go unrecognized or untreated. One of the most common invisible wounds is PTS. PTS can occur after seeing or experiencing a traumatic event such as a natural disaster, violence, sexual assault, a motor vehicle crash, or combat. Our experiences affect us all in diverse ways.

Symptoms of PTS may include, but are not limited to:

Restlessness
Impatience
Lack of empathy
Inability to focus or remember things
Irritability
Insomnia
Headaches
Migraines
Whole-body aches
Changes in appetite
Nausea
Hypertension
Racing heartbeat
Feeling overwhelmed
Feeling abandoned by others

Many of these symptoms overlap with those experienced by people suffering from traumatic brain injury, so it is important to talk to your doctor and get the help you need. These symptoms and feelings are a normal reaction to seeing or experiencing trauma. Sometimes, symptoms may be delayed or go unrecognized until well after the event. Sometimes, certain actions, smells, or even sounds can trigger an occurrence of post-traumatic stress. Whether a person deals with this intermittently or consistently, it is important to remember that treatment for PTS is available.

KIDS HEALTH HIGHLIGHT

Summer Wellness Tips

While water activities are a highlight of summer, being safe in and around the water is essential! Always supervise children and those that aren’t good swimmers when water is involved. While proper life jacket use is helpful, learning to swim is vital to water safety. Local recreation centers and community pools often have lessons available for all ages so check them out!

Also important for summer fun is sun protection! The sun’s UV (ultraviolet) rays can cause damage to your family’s cells, so protection is important. Staying out of the sun during peak UV times of 11am and 3pm is ideal, but if you can’t, make sure your family uses sunscreen and protective clothing (to include hats and sunglasses), and drinks lots of water to stay hydrated.

KIDS CORNER

Making memories and breaking up a typical at-home routine can be fun!

Here are some ideas for activities to do at home.

Click each image for more information and directions.

Glow in the Dark Wiffle Ball

Colorful Water Table

Suncatchers

Road Trip Snack Box

Frozen Creamy Orange Pops

PROGRAM HIGHLIGHT

The Fund's Case Managers (CMs)

The Fund's Case Management Team provides a collaborative approach serving critically wounded, ill, and injured service members, veterans, and military families. Supporting all branches of the U.S. Armed Forces, we provide one-on-one case management, connection, and lifetime support.

CM's areas of interest include:

Complex healthcare and support systems
Medical and mental health needs
Substance abuse
Employment
Housing
Education
Finances

CMs utilize an interactive approach to assisting each veteran.

SEASONAL RECIPE

Caprese Chicken

Click here to get the recipe.

QUOTE OF THE MONTH

“Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them, humanity cannot survive.”

–Dalai Lama

ANNOUNCEMENTS

National Make-a-Will Month

August is National Make-a-Will month. Semper Fi & America’s Fund is proud to offer FreeWill, a secure and completely free online tool that makes it easy to create a legally valid will in just 20 minutes. Whether you're planning for your family's future or simply organizing your affairs, FreeWill provides a simple, guided way to protect what matters most. There’s no cost and no obligation—just a meaningful step toward peace of mind.

Summer Vacation Options for Veterans

For many, summer brings the desire to explore, get out, and enjoy the nice weather. Several airlines, resorts, museums, and amusement parks offer discounts to veterans so consider researching veteran discounts when planning a trip. Here are a few veteran vacation deals:

Armed Forces Vacation Club for Veterans

National Parks and Camping

Veteran Discounts