How HPHH provides structure & stability for veterans

Tan was in the Australian Defence Force (ADF) for 8 years. Tan describes transitioning out of the ADF as a ‘shock to the system’ - going from having constant structure to almost no structure at all.  

On her journey to ‘find her footing in the world’, she stumbled upon a flyer through Mates4Mates advertising the HPHH Intensive Program funded by Collier Charitable Fund.  

“As a transitioning veteran, a lot of the programs we get offered are a lot shorter,” Tan says. 

“It was daunting when I first thought of [joining HPHH], because you just don’t know what the future holds, and it is a very scary time coming out of a career and not being sure what’s next. 

“I moved back to Brisbane [from Townsville], and I have family here, but I didn’t have any kind of social circles. I figured I’ll hopefully meet other like-minded people." 

Tan is a huge animal lover, particularly dogs, and had a cat that sadly passed away. Deciding to give it a go, Tan joined the 24-week Intensive Program, designed to help participants learn to train rescue dogs while building social connections and self-confidence.  

“We all said just how much structure it gave us, because a lot of us were just attending appointments and trying to figure out what was next without anything guiding us. We all said, even if the week was a bad one, our constant was that we had Friday to look forward to,” Tan says. 

“It gave us a bit of stability over that six-month period, and a little bit of structure back into our lives." 

Tan says she has a lot more confidence since completing the program. Struggling in social situations, she says it was a ‘big milestone’ to actually look forward to getting in her car and going to HPHH. 

“It definitely helped improve both my mental and physical health,” Tan says. 

“I’m 100% a different person, but for the better.” 

The friendships formed in the six-month program made it out of the classroom and into the real world. From Social Sundays to frequent check-in texts, Tan is still in touch with participants after the program ended and remains close friends with Bec and Laura. She says they have supported and continue to support each other through difficult times and even went whale watching and to Australia Zoo. 

“Australia Zoo was just phenomenal. Caring for the neonate kittens... going into the wildlife centre, and cleaning out the koala pens... you know, having those kinds of experiences, you sort of walk away and you reflect back and think ‘that was amazing,” Tan says. 

“It really hits you, what you achieved in that short amount of time, it was pretty incredible. We still pinch ourselves and say, ‘did that really happen?’” 

Tan says her experience with Program Trainer Leigh Alley-Dunne was ‘phenomenal’. 

“[Leigh] was juggling 5 veterans that all had different capabilities, both mentally and physically, and every week she was so flexible. There were some weeks where we would all come in and just be like ‘we’re having a bad week’ and she would restructure the whole day,” Tan says.  

“No matter what kind of day we were having, every single Friday, we would walk out of [class] feeling better than we did when we walked in.”