ALLENTOWN, Pa. — A day after Memorial Day, an open mic night helping female veterans heal took place in downtown Allentown.
“We’re a reintegration program using storytelling and community to help veterans come home, mind, body and spirit,” said Jenny Pacanowski.
Pacanowski started the organization ‘Women Veterans Empowered and Thriving’ after overcoming her own struggles transitioning out of the U.S. Army where she served as a combat medic in Iraq.
“I really, really struggled in my reintegration and I wanted to find a way not only to save myself from suicide, addiction, homelessness, incarceration,” Pacanowski explained.
It was through storytelling and community that she began to heal, founding the organization and the idea for a ‘Warriors Homecoming’ open mic night.
“It’s modeled after ancient warrior cultures like the Greeks, the Native Americans, the Romans, indigenous cultures. They had homecoming storytelling for the warriors returning. The Odyssey, 300, all of these great warrior stories came from the warriors speaking their truth,” Pacanowski stated.
Corinna Brown, also an Army vet, serves as the organization’s vice president.
“When we’re in service and we leave service, we’re trained to go into the military, we’re never trained to come out,” Brown told 69 News.
Supporting female veterans and their families, while creating a safe space to heal and reconnect.
“It’s important to connect to again to civilian culture and share experiences, what happened while you were away and what happened while you were in the service and share those stories with each other,” Brown concluded.