Supervisors declare San Diego County nation's first Hidden Heroes County

San Diego County has become the nation's first Hidden Heroes County.

A 5-0 San Diego County Board of Supervisors vote March 14 approved a resolution endorsing the county's participation in the Hidden Heroes campaign to recognize caregivers of injured military veterans.

"These caregivers are hidden caregivers," said Supervisor Bill Horn.

On a nationwide basis approximately 5.5 million caregivers provide services for veterans, including 1.1 million who help those who served following the September 2001 terrorist attack on the United States. More than 30,000 Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans live in San Diego County, which makes the county the second-largest concentration of such veterans in the nation.

"More of the injured veterans are coming home, but they're injured," Horn said.

The caregivers' duties include bathing, feeding, and dressing the veterans, administering medications, providing emotional support, caring for the veteran's home and family, and working outside the home to provide necessary income. The long-term and continual responsibility of those caregivers creates physical, emotional, and mental effects on the caregivers.

"Many of these caregivers have struggles of their own," Horn said.

The Hidden Heroes Campaign mission is to provide caregivers with tools and support as those caregivers face the challenge of caring for adults with chronic and disabling conditions. The short-term goal is to provide services to support military caregivers and to bring attention to the challenges the caregivers face, and a long-term quest involves solutions for the challenges and long-term needs the caregivers have.

The City of San Diego has become the nation's first Hidden Heroes Champion city. The county's Department of Aging and Independent Services already manages a program called Legacy Corps (www.lcsandiego.org) which provides free respite services to family members providing care for veterans of any age and the county's Office of Military and Veterans Affairs partners with the Southern Caregiver Resource Center and Elizabeth Hospice.