Spiritual nourishment offered to Lyster staff

By Janice Erdlitz, Lyster Army Health ClinicOctober 13, 2021

Lyster Army Health Clinic staff had the opportunity to participate in Care for the Caregivers lunches hosted by the Fort Rucker Religious Support Office (RSO). The resiliency lunches were provided to staff in small group settings so they could share personal experiences and talk with the chaplains.

“Lyster Army Health Clinic has been the tip of the spear during this pandemic and therefore experiencing battle fatigue,” stated Family Life Chaplain (Maj.) Scott Kennis. The RSO working in conjunction with leadership at Lyster planned a Care for the Caregiver luncheon to promote spiritual health for the caregiver during the trials presented by the current pandemic.

Kennis explained, “According to FM 7-22 spiritually readiness is a key component in sustaining a person during a time of stress, hardship or tragedy.”

Lt. Col. Danielle Rodondi, Lyster commander remarked, “We have to ensure we’re taking care of our team, so they can be their best to care for our community. We’ve seen how this pandemic has been a struggle for many. Providing our team with resources to stay mentally fit and resilient like the Care the Caregiver Lunch is one of the ways we continue to care for our people.”

Leadership recognized the potential for staff to experience battle fatigue therefore the Religious Support Office worked closely with Lyster to develop these resiliency lunches. The chaplains facilitated discussion, prayer, as well as spiritual encouragement. Kennis went on to explain, “FM 7-22 says one of the ways we become resilient is through spiritual readiness and therefore the chaplains provided spiritual encouragement, prayer and genuine appreciation to those individuals laboring on the front lines during a very trying time.”

Spiritual readiness is a vital domain in the Holistic Health and Fitness (H2F) System, and it directly impacts the resiliency of individuals and organizations.

Additional opportunities have been provided to Lyster staff to build their resiliency and work on self-care. “We want to promote cohesive teams and positive behaviors that increase our resilience and readiness. Our people are our priority; we want to ensure we’re always mission-ready,” concluded Rodondi.

To learn more on how to improve resiliency visit, https://www.armyresilience.army.mil/.

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