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Once a warrior : how one veteran found a new mission closer to home / by Wood, Jake,1983-author.;
"The powerful story of one Marine who found healing and renewed purpose after returning from combat, for himself and tens of thousands of fellow veterans. When Marine sniper Jake Wood came home in 2009 from grueling tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, his country asked yet more of him: to compartmentalize his traumatic memories, put his elite military training on a shelf, and adjust to living outside high-stakes situations. Jake feared he would join the huge population of veterans struggling to reintegrate. Since 2001, more service members have died by suicide than have been killed in Afghanistan. One activity helped Jake and his friend and fellow Marine Clay Hunt find a measure of hope: helping communities after disasters, where their training rendered them unusually effective in high-stakes situations. But as their new organization struggled to get off the ground and the VA tied up Clay's meds in red tape, Clay committed suicide. Reeling, Jake resolved to help as many disaster-affected communities and provide a mission to as many veterans as possible. Over the past 10 years, with no money or experience, he and his team have recruited over 100,000 volunteers to his organization Team Rubicon. It's established a reputation for delivering desperately needed aid faster and better than other organizations hindered by bureaucracy. Racing against the clock, veteran volunteers utilize their military training to untangle complex problems quickly and keep calm under pressure in catastrophic scenarios. What's more, Team Rubicon gives meaningful direction to men and women who need the disaster response work as much as the work needs them. Having a continued purpose--a mission that matters--can be the key to a veteran's successful transition from war to peace"--
Subjects: Biographies.; Autobiographies.; Wood, Jake, 1983-; United States. Marine Corps; United States. Marine Corps. Marine Regiment, 7th. Battalion, 2nd.; Team Rubicon (Organization); Afghan War, 2001-; Disaster relief.; Iraq War, 2003-2011; Marines; Philanthropists; Veterans;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Pink glass houses : a novel / by Elias, Asha,author.;
There's a reason people call Miami Beach "a sunny place for shady people." Welcome to Sunset Academy, the most coveted elementary school in Miami Beach, where there are three categories of families: rich, wealthy, and ultra-wealthy. Perfectly tanned and smiling Charlotte Giordani is Sunset Academy's alpha mom. With a sleek blowout and relentless charm, Charlotte's brashness serves her well. She's up for election as the PTA president and is riding high, having just secured a massive donation from billionaire Don Walker and his socialite wife Patricia. Don and Patricia are philanthropists, media darlings, and the owners of Villa Rosé, a newly built modern glass house that everyone is talking about. (It's either spectacular or a tacky eyesore, depending on how you feel about billionaires.) Enter Melody Howard, a wide-eyed transplant from Wichita, Kansas. At first a skeptic about Miami Beach and its endlessly hashtaggable social scene, Melody finds herself sucked into the glossy, frenetic world of Sunset Academy moms. Melody's easygoing manner and background in nonprofit management make her an asset to the PTA. But when she emerges as a rival for the PTA presidency, Charlotte begins to unravel. Even the most powerful players on the social scene prove to be vulnerable when an investigation into white-collar crime--triggered by another school mom, the formidable Jamaican-American Judge Carol Lawson--threatens to take down the whole institution. No amount of rosé can soothe tensions as the drama builds to a shocking crisis point. Told in rotating first person voices, Pink Glass Houses is an irresistibly voyeuristic peek into the lives of the rich and infamous, where cocaine playdates, $100,000 kiddie birthday parties, and relentless social climbing are a way of life.
Subjects: Satirical fiction.; Novels.; Parents' and teachers' associations; Rich people; Scandals; Social status; Women;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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