By Kelsey Kendall
Three-time alumnus Tony Dice, Ph.D., is a clinical therapist and former Navy SEAL. Through his work, he serves as an advocate for the veteran population – particularly disabled veterans – and often presents at conventions, sharing his story and experience in working with behavioral health issues prevalent in that community.
When he was approached to help Ukrainian disabled soldiers and their families through the Mountain Seed Foundation, a nonprofit that helps families caught in European warzones, he jumped at the opportunity. He also volunteered his wife, Tammi Dice, Ph.D. (B.A. '96, M.S.Ed. '00), who is the dean of the Darden College of Education and Professional Studies. Four of their children, as well as several faculty from, the Darden College also volunteered with the program over the summer.
Their efforts supported the Healing Base Camps in Austria, where injured Ukrainian soldiers and their families could go to develop resiliency tools and strength building before returning home to a warzone. Tony, (B.S. ‘13, M.S. Ed. ‘16, Ph.D. ‘20), served as the primary counselor for the soldiers participating. Helping with programming and evaluation were Tammi and Mark Rehfuss, Ph.D. and Chair of the Counseling and Human Services Department, and Jill Kivikoski, a counseling doctoral student. Justin Haegele, Ph.D., a professor and the director of the Center for Movement, Health & Disability is also involved in the program evaluation.
The overall goal: to build hope.
Families at the camp rock climbed, hiked and did other outdoor activities in the beautiful Austrian mountains. For many, it was a chance to see that, despite their losses, they could overcome just about anything.
Tammi described the experience of seeing a man who had lost both legs climb up a mountain with his prosthetics as “transformative.” It was a time for these families to get away from the war and realize they were still capable, and they were still together and able to have fun and laugh.
The experience also inspired the Dices. After about a decade of watching Tony be involved in philanthropy and counseling, their teenage and college-aged kids were able to be a part of helping others.
“This was a chance for them to go out and be immersed in it, see the process, and witness the change people go through,” Tony said. “I could see their little worlds shifting about how much good they can do.”
Now the kids are saying they don’t want to go to the beach for vacation next year. They want to go back and continue to help.
The summer abroad did not just have an impact on the Dice family and the rest of the ODU team that shared this experience. It opened opportunities for more collaborations to take place.
One is with Gen. Ukrainian, a nonprofit based in Ukraine that requested a partnership with the University to support its efforts in helping children impacted by the war. The camp offers psychological rehabilitation to children impacted in one of seven ways: death of a parent, death of a relative, forcible deportation to Russia, interrogation and return to Ukraine, have lived on the frontlines, have a parent who was injured in the war, have relatives in captivity or are missing, or an unspecified loss.
The goal of the partnership is to conduct an evaluation of their programming and inform the educational system within the country on how to best support these children who have faced significant trauma. University faculty involved in this collaboration are Dr. Tammi Dice, Stephanie Smith-Durkin, Ph.D., Shana Pribesh, Ph.D., and Emily Goodman-Scott, Ph.D. These Darden College faculty members will support research design, data analysis and recommendations for the organization.
The other initiative is a partnership with educational leaders in the Ukraine, Belfast, Northern Ireland, James Madison University and the U.S. Institute of Peace with the goal of rebuilding the Ukraine’s public schools from pre-school to higher education. This effort includes these Darden College faculty members: Dr. Tammi Dice, Maggie Barber, Ph.D., Emily Goodman-Scott, Ph.D., Meagan Richard, Ph.D. and Anne Perrotti, Ph.D.
“It’s so valuable for ODU to have the opportunity to be engaged in such meaningful and important efforts that make a positive impact on humanity around the world,” Tammi said. “That’s our core goal, right?”