TULSA, Okla. — Eagle OPS, a local organization, aims to connect our heroes to resources and help them transition home.
Now, the foundation is transitioning into a home of its own.
Eagle OPS was created in 2016 by Johnathon Shepherd and his wife, Jessica.
"So the start of it or the evolution of it came from my own demons and my wife, literally following me through the Marine Corps, and then as we made our transition back home, I found myself in the bottom of a bottle, dealing with my demons, my issues, transitioning back from the Marine Corps for a number of years, that are part of the first three and a half years to be honest," Johnathon Shepherd, co-found of Eagle OPS, said.
"And my wife finally drew a line in the sand and said, I'm taking our son and leaving or you're straightening your stuff up. And so that, obviously, Thank the Lord. That was my come to Jesus meeting with my wife and the Lord to be honest with you and say, 'Hey, I've got to make a change.'"
Ever since starting Eagle OPS, they have been helping Veterans in many ways to help combat that isolation and loneliness.
"Eagle OPS came from that. Of that true need that was out there, still out there today," Johnathon Shepherd said. "And now we've really, even the VA has started to identify that isolation and loneliness is the primary two key factors to Veteran Suicide."
- Previous story>>> Eagle OPS helping Tulsa area veterans transition home
They are working to prevent that through social interactions.
"If we can plug into other brothers and sisters that have been there and done that, that immediately comradery starts, right?" Johnathon Shepherd said. "And it may not be on the first social connection, or first social, what we call our 'Rally Points.' It might not be in the first one, or the second one, it might not be in the first year. But I assure you they keep coming back and they keep building that confidence level and that trust level to say 'hey, hey Justin. Hey, brother, I could really use some help.'"
In 2022, Eagle OPS received the Staff Sergeant Parker Gordon Fox Suicide Prevention Grant.
Read more on the grant here
The grant allowed the organization to expand into this new space.
"It was the turning point for this organization to grow into the next step," Jessica Shepherd, co-founder of Eagle OPS, said. "It truly was an answer to a prayer."
This new location has space to help the organization expand. However, the actual mission is outside these walls.
"Our social Rally Points are in the community, and they're going to continue to do that," Johnathon Shepherd said. "We're going to add more Rally Points because now we have a centralized place. A command-and-control type scenario where I can employ the Justin's of the world that want to be a difference maker and say, hey, 'I enjoy doing xyz, let's go do that.'"
For more on the word Eagle OPS does, visit our story here
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