Julianne Moore Instagram – Ginny Mack is my #WomenCrushWednesday this week. Ginny is a Navy Nurse veteran, a nurse practitioner, and @MomsDemand and @BeSMARTforKids volunteer from Fort Collins, Colorado.
After the attacks on September 11, Ginny served in the Navy for six years—including an O.E.F. deployment from 2003-2004—and used her G.I. Bill to earn her master’s degree focusing on psychiatric and mental health nursing. Working at a university clinic, Ginny came to a sobering realization: “I wasn’t expecting the most challenging of hardships to come after my active-duty service, but I found myself most affected by the young people I cared for who had lingering P.T.S.D. symptoms years after surviving gun violence.” Within a three-year period, two of her patients who were survivors of gun violence had died by gun suicide.
Ginny channeled her grief into action and began volunteering with @MomsDemand and @BeSMARTforKids, where she developed partnerships with @AFSPColorado, @UCHealth Safe Kids Larimer County, @ASP_Larimer, @Imaginezerosuicide, and @fc_interfaithcouncil to promote gun safety and reduce gun suicide. She’s also coordinated presentations to healthcare providers in her community on Extreme Risk Protection Orders, or measures designed to help people in crisis, and the people around them, to stay safe from gun violence. Her local Fort Collins group was even honored with the sharing of a new proclamation from the city Mayor Jeni Arndt to recognize National Injury Prevention Day.
As a Navy Nurse veteran from a military family, Ginny believes her experiences in life have well-prepared her to join this movement. “It’s essential to lean into the hard,” she says. “It’s imperative that we work together, one community at a time, and know that we have the tools to end this epidemic. We can do this together.” Thank you @ginny.mack7 for your service, and for your continued service to build a safer world for all of us. #wcw #SuicidePreventionAwarenessMonth | Posted on 11/Sep/2024 22:25:08
