Welcome to our Operation Renewal Blog and to our WEB site!
My name is Ron Dilbert and we look forward to bringing interesting perspectives and information to help you and your families! Please feel free to make comments, give feedback and suggestions for future blogs and to offer to write a blog post to share your thoughts and your experiences.
Operation Renewal was created to help strengthen our military families by sharing effective and proven tools and techniques to better equip them for the challenges that come with each transition that accompanies deployments.
As a result of our families being better prepared to address the upcoming challenges, they are able to become closer and more connected at a deeper level. Consequently, our families are empowered and are able to utilize what they have learned to stay together as a family and to continue to support each other throughout each of the phases of deployment.
Our goal is to make a significant impact on reversing the record number of divorces, suicides and the growing number of homelessness among our Veterans. In addition, Operation Renewal is working hard to help address the unusually high rate of psychological challenges facing our families today as a result of deployments.
You may ask how and why I have taken on this mission that has grown from a personal mission to a shared mission among many. That is a very good question!
I have been through extensive training to become a trainer and a coach and have always felt a passion for helping families. When I was a child I remember watching the firemen putting out a fire caused by a lightning strike at our home and going above and beyond to go back into the house to rescue our aging dog.
I felt that pang to serve early on and at the ripe old age of 15 I had an opportunity to become a Junior Fireman and jumped at it! At the age of 18 I transitioned into the Freeport Fire Department, serving 13 years as a fireman, until I made my next transition into single parenthood.
Once I received full custody of my one year old son, John, I decided to leave the fire department and get into a safer hobby – now that my son was always in the back of my mind.
Having gotten turned on to training in the computer field, I began to participate in more trainings and began to apply these new learned skills into helping single parent families move forward with their lives from a place of feeling confident, focused and powerful, instead of a place of feeling weak, confused and helpless.
As I got deeper into working with single parent families, my organization began to receive calls from military spouses. Most calls were similar in content – my husband or wife just deployed, we were taught all the logistics of deployment and now I am a single parent and can you help me to do this?
As we worked with the military families via coaching, we soon realized that they required more help and guidance. They needed tools to help them through the challenges that these deployments were bringing to their homes.
I remember growing up with my Dad, a WW II Veteran who was a paratrooper in the Pacific Theater, and the challenges we faced as a family. My Dad would actually leave the room whenever we put on a war movie. He rarely spoke of what happened and when he did, it was always at the 30,000 foot level. These experiences, among others, with my family had already set the foundation for my strong desire and passion to help other military families!!
It was at this point, November 2009, when Operation Renewal was born. We currently are working with military families via workshops and through personal/family coaching. We are successfully reaching out for sponsorships to help pay for our workshops and multiple day retreats. Our goal is that no family is ever denied the ability to attend our events because of financial reasons.
We have worked with units in Arkansas and Oklahoma, as well as providing our families opportunities to go out as a family, as a couple, with teens or with little ones. We have partnered with organizations to give opportunities to our families to attend performances in the arts, musicals, Broadway shows, concerts, and many other forms of entertainment and recognition.
We look forward to helping you in any way possible – whether by workshops, coaching, other resources, referrals or opportunities for you and your family to get out for a break from the challenges life sometimes brings.
I look forward to meeting you and appreciate any feedback and ideas that can make our programs and events even better.
We welcome all feedback to help increase and give more value in the ways we can help you and your family.
If I can be of assistance, please do not hesitate to reach out.
Next time you attend one of our events please come up and introduce yourself!
Have a wonderful day and I look forward to working with you and your family!
I thank you in advance for your trust in us and for your willingness to reach out for help and for opportunities to go out and have fun!
With all my best,
Ron Dilbert
Founder / CEO
Operation Renewal
