The husband and wife team of Mark and Tori Baird, founders of Hire-Patriots.com and PatrioticHearts.org, exemplify the meaning of human compassion. The amount of work, personal monies and dedication they have put toward helping military families has been immeasurable.
Their story begins back in the fall of 2004, and it started with Hire- Patriots.com. “We had a marine come over to our house who returned home from Iraq, and he came home to find his wife and two kids had gone through a lot of financial stress,” said Mark. “Their car had been repossessed, and their electricity was about to get turned off.” This marine, knocking on neighborhood doors, was looking for homeowners who needed a helping hand around the house.
“That’s more or less how our idea got started,” explained Mark. In February 2005, the Bairds created their website. “The very first month, we had 500 marines come to the website looking for work,” he said, “and now, we have 60,000 visitors a month looking for work.”
HirePatriots.com is a nationwide free service where one-day jobs, full-time jobs and resumes are posted. Jobs for both soldiers and their spouses who remain at or near the base have the opportunity to make money. Patriotic employers have been delighted to post jobs, as well.
Soon after the kick-start of HirePatriots.com, the Baird duo recognized the glaring challenges military families face on a daily basis.
Soldiers were being deployed repeatedly. “Many marines have been deployed six times, and this is putting a strain on the marriage,” explained Baird. “Multiple combat-deployed soldiers are now suffering more than an 80 percent divorce rate.”
Roughly a year ago the Baird’s started their other nonprofit organization, PatrioticHearts.org. A niche of this nonprofit focuses on the Military Marriage Enrichment Weekend. Soldiers return from combat with a great deal of stress, because during war they turn off their emotional center and become like ice cubes, said Mark.
When soldiers finally arrive home, the dynamics of the marriage changes. And the children, who are thrilled with their parent’s return, are often faced with the reality of divorce. “With the sacrifice that military families make, it’s just not right that they are losing their family,” said Mark.
The Military Marriage Enrichment Weekend, normally located at the Marina Inn Suites in Oceanside, is geared towards helping couples stay together. “These couples need someone to pop that big bubble of tension, anxiety, stress, anger, resentment, frustration and worry,” explained Mark. “And what they [couple] find is that they really do love each other very deeply.”
Another critical part to Patriotic Hearts.org is the Welcome Home Party. Soldiers need to feel appreciated when they come home, said Mark.
The party is a special time and reunion for the whole family. “The children run around with more joy than you have ever seen.”
Committed to helping military families, their three-point plan of a Welcome Home Party, HirePatriots.com, and Marriage Retreats has brought families who were on the brink of divorce into a cohesive unit once again.
These nonprofit organizations need ongoing support.
To learn more, please log onto www.HirePatriots.com or www.PatrioticHearts.org. The Bairds may also be reached at 760-730-3734 or 202-558-7490.
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