Fort Myers woman created horse therapy program to help local war veterans overcome PTSD
Following a three-month long search, Tropical Financial Credit Union has named Fort Myers real estate agent Gail Doxie as its 2016 Local Hero. Doxie was selected for her work helping war veterans recover from mental health issues related to their service in Afghanistan and Iraq.
“Gail is to be commended for her work caring for American veterans,” said Richard Helber, president and CEO of Tropical Financial Credit Union. “She is the epitome of what a local hero is all about; someone doing selfless acts on a regular basis for the betterment of a community or for the benefit of other people.”
“I want to thank Tropical Financial Credit Union for this incredible recognition, but I believe the real heroes are the military men and women who lay their lives on the line each day to preserve the freedoms we all love and enjoy,” said Doxie. “I humbly share this honor with them.”
Doxie and her husband, Keith, started the Miles of Smiles Foundation in memory of their only son, Miles, who was killed in an automobile accident two weeks before reporting to Air Force basic training. Working full time as a real estate agent, she went back to school and became a licensed mental health counselor with a mission to help veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). She then brought the community together to develop a 20-acre ranch in north Ft. Myers where she started an Equine Assisted Therapy and Psychotherapy program. The idea was inspired by Miles who found great comfort around horses.
Doxie provides her therapy free of charge to veterans and their families. In fact, during the past two years, she has donated $60,000 worth of services.
“Had our son enlisted as planned, he likely would have been assigned to Afghanistan or Iraq, and if he survived, would have likely returned home with some sort of emotional issue related to his combat experience. With that in mind, we wanted to do something to honor him and his desire to help other people. We wanted to do something different and experiential to assist local veterans work through their issues so they can return to a normal civilian life.”
On Tuesday, October 18th, about 40 supporters, friends and veterans attended a check presentation ceremony at the ranch. Tropical Financial gave Doxie $4,500 as a thank you for her selfless work. She also received a $1,000 check that went directly to the foundation.
This year, Tropical Financial is recognizing two runner-ups who also do amazing things in their community.
Julia Kadel of Delray Beach, Florida, started a baseball league, called the Miracle League of Palm Beach County, to give kids with special needs an opportunity to play organized baseball. The league is now in its 18th season.
Bernadette Todd of Cutler Bay, Florida, was born with muscular dystrophy, and outlived doctors’ predictions of an early death. Today, she and a group of women she calls Team Bernadette, organize mission trips around the world to bring people a message of hope.
Each woman will be given $500 to be donated to a charity of her choice.
“One thing that’s clear is that people in South Florida have a huge heart,” said Helber. “We received so many compelling stories it was hard to choose just one hero. It’s tremendously overwhelming.”
Tropical Financial Credit Union honors a Local Hero each year with nominations made by the public through a web portal www.SubmitaHero.com. More than 300 names were submitted this year betweenJuly 18 and August 19. After that nomination period ended, all of the stories were shared on the website giving the public a chance to vote for their favorites. More than 4,800 votes were cast. The top 10 vote-getters were submitted to a panel of judges who selected the finalists and winner.
The three criteria for judging included: Impact on Community—what is it that the nominee did and how long the nominee has been helping community; Story— how compelling is the story, spoken from the heart to tell the story and how was the nominator affected by what the nominee did; Location and Number—how many people has the nominee helped and what part of South Florida was affected by what the nominee did; how far-reaching was the effort felt.
Local Hero nominations were open to people who live in any of the eight counties that Tropical Financial Credit Union conducts business: Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, Martin and St. Lucie counties in southeast Florida, and Collier, Lee and Hendry in southwest Florida.
About Tropical Financial Credit Union
Based in Miramar, Florida, Tropical Financial Credit Union is a not for-profit financial institution whose deposits are federally insured. Anyone who lives or works in Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, Martin, St. Lucie, Lee, Collier, Hendry and Sarasota Counties is eligible to join. Tropical Financial Credit Union was formed in 1935 by employees of the former Southern Bell with just a few hundred dollars and has grown to over $659 million in assets. For more information, log on to www.tropicalfcu.com.
About the Miles of Smiles Foundation:
The Miles of Smiles Foundation offers equine-assisted psychotherapy and equine assisted learning programs for Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom veterans suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome (PTSD). There is no charge to veterans in the program. In addition to working with veterans, counseling in grief and loss anxiety and depression is available on a limited basis to the general public. If you know of a veteran who can benefit from Miles of Smiles Foundation services or you would like to make a donation to the cause, please log onto www.milesranch.org for more information.
