Denver, CO -- (SBWIRE) -- 06/04/2014 -- Project Sanctuary proudly announces its status as a founding member of R4 Alliance, a membership of Programs of Excellence providing community and therapeutic recreation service to Our Military Family (U.S. service members, veterans, and their families), joining forces to overcome barriers in our industry.

“The four R’s represented by R4 Alliance – Recreate, Research, Rehabilitate, Reintegrate – are key elements of Project Sanctuary programming,” said Heather Ehle, Project Sanctuary founder and CEO. “Joining with like-minded organizations from across the country to promote the highest standards of excellence in providing services and to create the most effective continuum of care for Our Military Family is a win/win for all.”

Answering the call to action by former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mullen and the Office of Warrior and Family Support, R4 Alliance has stepped forward to provide a collaborative approach that enhances research, training, and standards of excellence through focused therapeutic and community recreation programs. This collaboration enables R4 Alliance to bring a wealth of knowledge and capability in meeting the growing needs of veterans and their families.

“Uniting our efforts to draw strongly on the ‘best of the best’s’ collective knowledge provides the opportunity to make real changes. We need to provide research, education, and care for our veterans that drive positive change in government and healthcare, demand standards of excellence to meet the needs of our current veterans, and enhance veterans’ care in the future,” said R4 Alliance Executive Director Chuck Steele.

Maximizing the healing power of nature and recreation for Our Military Family, R4 Alliance members, affiliates, and strategic partners work collaboratively to meet the following objectives:

- Create and utilize collaborative Research and evaluation tools that provide a substantial evidence base to: advocate recreation as a crucial component to health and wellness, disseminate findings through the medical community, and provide protocol for individualized client treatment plans.
- Serve as a nationally recognized alliance of service providers promoting Standards of Excellence to regulate recreation service provision to Our Military Family nationwide.
- Provide information sharing systems, facilitating communication between service providers necessary for a collaborative Continuum of Care needed for the highest quality of service provision.
- Establish Education and Training guidelines to facilitate the distribution of shared experience and knowledge across the service providers.
- Enhance funding and Economic Viability through creative private sector fundraising initiatives and private and public grant writing applications.

“The enthusiasm that programs like Project Sanctuary bring to R4 Alliance has been very encouraging. Our collective experience and combined knowledge grows with every program of excellence we bring on board.” said Bert Gillette, Director of Programs and Outreach for R4. “Together, our voices become stronger, and together we will improve the quality of community and therapeutic recreational services for Our Military Family nationwide!”

Current R4 recreation and affiliate members include: Higher Ground, Team River Runner, Northeast Passage, Project Sanctuary, Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing, Operation Game On, Ride 2 Recovery, Eagle Rock Camp, Honor House, the Sierra Club, TERROS Advancing Heroes Project, Georgia Aquarium’s Veterans Immersion, World T.E.A.M. Sports, Semper Fidelis Health and Wellness, Healing Our Heroes Project, Hope for the Warriors, Equest Hooves for Heroes, Soldiers to Summits, Operation AMPED, Leaps of Faith Adaptive Skiers, and Combat Veterans to Careers.

R4 Alliance is currently seeking members, strategic partners, volunteers, donors, and sponsors to continue national expansion and outreach. To learn more about how to join and/or support R4 Alliance visit www.r4alliance.org.

About Project Sanctuary
Founded in 2007, Project Sanctuary takes our military families from battle-ready to family-ready by providing six-day, outdoor, therapeutic retreats in a healing environment and ongoing family support services for two years following each retreat. Sponsors that help make the retreats possible include the USO, First Command Financial Services, Aimco Cares, Healthy Marriage Project, YMCA of the Rockies, SM Energy, Rocky Mountain Ace Hardware, and JetBlue.

More information is available online at www.projectsanctuary.us.