Warrior Canine Connection
Warrior Canine Connection is a pioneering organization that utilizes clinically based Canine Connection Therapy to help wounded Warriors reconnect with life, their families, their communities, and each other.
Enabled Enterprises is a veteran-owned business that strives to be a model for empowering through providing opportunities for independence and success. The company is basing its growth on the belief that veterans, when given a chance, have unending possibilities. ‘We recognize veterans as an incredible national resource’.
October, 2016
Comment from Larry Spatz, Enabled Enterprises co-founder:
Janna, myself and all who loved Casey send our prayers to you and your family. I want you to know that Enabled Enterprises which he, Adam McCabe and I founded is doing important clinical trials with our medical technology for the treatment and prevention of TBI and PTSD. We are doing this in partnership with the DoD and VA in honor of and because of Casey. Our dream is that this technology will change the lives of our veterans who gave so much and suffer so much. It will also be Casey’s legacy. Casey continues to bless us.
Love and blessings, Larry
March 11, 2018
Comment from Larry Spatz, Enabled Enterprises co-founder:
The Western Slope Veterans Coalition – In the summer of 2013, a group of Veterans from the Roaring Fork and Colorado River valleys banded together to assist fellow Veterans. Conversations ensued about the need to increase coordination and resources in support of those with military experience.
From the work of this committed group of individuals (all volunteers) throughout the Roaring Fork and Eagle valleys, the Western Slope Veterans Coalition was born. WSVC is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3).
Today, the Western Slope Veterans Coalition (WSVC) provides a hub for the information, action, programs and activities that support, honor and connect veterans in the Roaring Fork and Eagle valleys.
The Coalition is an organization supported by and open to all citizens, organizations and businesses that support veterans. The WSVC holds quarterly meetings and events, provides a forum for information sharing, best practices and the coordination of resources for Veterans.
On the occasion of Veteran’s Day, 2017, The Western Slopes Veterans Coalition dedicated their new facility to Jesse Beckius and Casey Owens, both injured Marines who came home, tried to make new lives in the civilian workplace and then, tragically, ended their own lives. It was a beautiful and emotional ceremony to dedicate the center in Glenwood Springs. A tremendous crowd of patriots came to celebrate this dedication as well as the USMC birthday. Thank you to the entire Glenwood Springs/Aspen community of Veterans and supporters!
Impact a Hero opens new office in Texas
Comment by Janna Owens Dunkel
Yesterday, March 22, 2018, IMPACT A HERO had their open house and dedication ceremony for their new office in Spring, Texas, north of Houston. Casey’s sister, Lezleigh and I attended and were very honored. It is a lovely office and Impact will continue to do great things for our veterans. Thank you to each and everyone who dedicate so much time and energy for this great cause. We have been part of the Impact a Hero family for 14 years. We encourage everyone to continue to support them.
WSVC’s 1st Anniversary, Veteran’s Day 2018 and the Marine’s 243rd birthday – all in one! To mark the Western Slopes Veterans Coalition’s first anniversary of the Glenwood Springs office, Veteran’s Day 2018 and the Marine Corps’ 243rd birthday, Casey’s mother, Janna, his sister, Lezleigh, his brother, Michael and Harold The Wonder Dog were invited to attend and share the occasion. The event was well-attended, the speeches were inspiring and the food and fellowship were beyond compare.
This year’s agenda.
Casey to the Rescue
The Rescue Group is Named in Memory of Corporal Casey Owens
I met Corporal Casey Owen when I worked for the WCOFF in 2005 and 2007 (World Champion of Fantasy Football). He was a selected “Wounded Warrior” to come out as our guest and have a good time with passionate fantasy drafters. Corporal Owens arrived in 2004 in a wheel chair just 11 months after he was critically injured in Iraq.
I stayed in touch with Casey for many years. He would reach out to update me on his recovery, which was an ongoing challenge for Casey (as you might expect). But Casey used his experience to help others. He testified in front of Congress about the poor conditions at Walter Reed Vet Hospital. His testimony helped improve conditions for thousands of other wounded soldiers.
On October 16, 2014, Casey’s struggle became too much to bear. Tragically, he ended his life alone in his apartment. I had lost touch with him around 2013, and found out he was gone a couple years later. For a long time, I knew I needed to do something in his honor.
Granted, Casey was not a person in my daily life. But he left a life-long impression with his bravery and love for his country. And I knew he had a beautiful rescue dog, “Harold the Wonder Dog,” as Casey called him.
I thought of possibly setting up a foundation, but that did not speak to me like my love to help rescue dogs. So I have paired this admiration for Casey and passion for rescue dogs, and have formed a non-for profit, 501c3. Our labor of love will be an honoring tribute to my friend, Casey.
— Chris Lambert, Founder