Meet Erin Baer, Army Spouse
Volunteers with MSAN are the embodiment of the core values of supporting, empowering and educating military spouses. Additionally, they display their ability to be versatile with them having to balance their life along with their volunteering with MSAN.
In this edition of Volunteer Spotlight, we honor Erin Baer an Army Mentor who has been a military spouse for 13 years and provides support in many areas such as mental health and career development.
What is your role with MSAN?
Military spouse mentor on the Army team.
What led you to MSAN and how long have you been a mentor with MSAN?
I think I’ve been a mentor for close to 2 years now. I’ve always wanted to do something like this to lend a hand to other military spouses where I can.
What has been the toughest challenge for you as a military spouse?
Maintaining a sense of community with all of the location changes and separation from family and friends. It’s hard to spend any amount of time in a comfort zone, and that can be exhausting at times.
Regarding your education with mental health counseling; how important is mental health in the military spouses?
I think mental wellness is important for everyone, and what needs to be known is that the culture within the military is different and therefore brings different mental health support needs and knowledge. As a mental health professional, we learn that cultural competency is necessary in building healthy and trusting relationships with those we support, and recognizing the military as its own “culture” and supporting the growth of competence in these differed needs is important to mental health education.
What is most important to you as a mentor?
The supportive and connective space that MSAN provides is so valuable, and what I would say is the most important aspect of mentoring military spouses, and helping spouses feel supported.
What is the most challenging part of being a mentor?
Finding the amount of dedicated time that I want to spend connecting with others in the Hub and with my mentees. It can be a juggling act, but it’s something that is important and enjoyable for me.
In terms of the Mentorship HUB, how helpful do you think it is for military spouses?
It’s like a social media site that is actually supportive and positive - MSAN leaders and mentors do a great job of providing the useful parts of social media and really helping spouses other feel connected without being physically located together.
When it comes to pcsing, what are some important things that military spouses need to take into account?
I could write an essay on this question…so it’s hard to narrow down! Family support, housing, jobs, pets, cost, access to travel to family, education…and I could go on and on. Since my spouse just recently retired and we are, I think, done PCSing, I think the best thing I could say is that every PCS is temporary - if you want to go someplace you wouldn’t have an opportunity to otherwise - do it, because it’s temporary. If you get stuck somewhere you hate - remembering that it’s temporary can get you through.
With your knowledge in career development; what is one thing you know now that you wish you knew earlier?
I think it’s far more important to find a field that you are naturally drawn to and that makes you feel empowered and have purpose. We are certainly capable of doing careers that are in demand or make good money, but they can be so draining if we find no passion or purpose in them.
What is your favorite thing to do in your free time?
Garden and read
How do you balance mentorship with your personal life?
I try to schedule time in when I can, and I also take advantage of any kid activities where I just have to sit and wait - so I do a lot of Hub time during soccer or gymnastics practices.
What are some short term and long term goals you have for yourself?
What was once a long term goal is getting very close to close term, as I’m about to finish my residency in mental health counseling and should be able to get my LPC in the next 6-9 months! I’ve been working on this goal for 5 years now, so this is a big one for me!
At MSAN, Tony Castillo serves as the Communications Manager and as a military brat is passionate about serving others in need. Tony is a recent graduate from Texas A&M with a degree in communications and has committed to support the community he grew up with.