About Us
The Story of Recognize the Sacrifice:
In late 2008, Kate was sitting behind Jayna in a base gymnasium in Vilseck, Germany, waiting for soldiers to return from a 15-month tour in Iraq. Both nurses, they struck up a conversation about the increasing prevalence of blast injuries and subsequent concussions and traumatic brain injuries sustained by veterans. Since this was of interest- both personal and professional- to them both, in January 2009, they sat down in Jayna's dining room (with loaner Army furniture before Jayna moved back to Washington) with their laptops and created Recognize the Sacrifice. Armed with little more than an unreliable German internet connection, and military-wife determination and pride, Jayna & Kate started the recognizethesacrifice.org.
Jayna Moceri Brooks, BSN, MN, RN, Co-founder, Director:
Native of the Pacific Northwest, Jayna graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree from Seattle Pacific University and then went on to earn a Master of Nursing degree from the University of Washington, Tacoma where she focused her studies on communities, populations, and health; with special interest in military communities. She has experience volunteering and working on military installations abroad and within the United States.
Jayna, in addition to running this organization, works as an Emergency Department nurse. She was moved to co-found Recognize the Sacrifice in January 2009 after her husband, Jonathan, suffered a TBI while on a 15 month deployment to Iraq (2007-2008). They are still in the application process for the Purple Heart medal. Jayna's goal in co-founding the organization is to support service members and their families through the complicated application process and to advocate for them to receive proper medical care, rehabilitation, and official recognition of their combat injury. Jayna currently resides in Portland, OR with her husband and two children.
Kate Froede, BNSc., MSN, RN, Co-founder:
Native of Apopka, Florida, Kate graduated with a Bachelor of Nursing Science degree from Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, and has worked primarily in Emergency and Trauma settings, spending several years in civilian service for the Department of the Army. She later earned a Master of Science in Nursing degree from Loyola University New Orleans, with specific research focus on Traumatic Brain Injuries (namely mild TBI and injuries sustained from blast exposure in Operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom). Kate started this research in 2007, and independently developed data sets and extrapolated potential clinical findings prior to the release of the DoD's large-scale studies in 2009. She has experience volunteering and working on military installations abroad and within the United States.
In late 2008, Kate was sitting behind Jayna in a base gymnasium in Vilseck, Germany, waiting for soldiers to return from a 15-month tour in Iraq. Both nurses, they struck up a conversation about the increasing prevalence of blast injuries and subsequent concussions and traumatic brain injuries sustained by veterans. Since this was of interest- both personal and professional- to them both, in January 2009, they sat down in Jayna's dining room (with loaner Army furniture before Jayna moved back to Washington) with their laptops and created Recognize the Sacrifice. Armed with little more than an unreliable German internet connection, and military-wife determination and pride, Jayna & Kate started the recognizethesacrifice.org.
Jayna Moceri Brooks, BSN, MN, RN, Co-founder, Director:
Native of the Pacific Northwest, Jayna graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree from Seattle Pacific University and then went on to earn a Master of Nursing degree from the University of Washington, Tacoma where she focused her studies on communities, populations, and health; with special interest in military communities. She has experience volunteering and working on military installations abroad and within the United States.
Jayna, in addition to running this organization, works as an Emergency Department nurse. She was moved to co-found Recognize the Sacrifice in January 2009 after her husband, Jonathan, suffered a TBI while on a 15 month deployment to Iraq (2007-2008). They are still in the application process for the Purple Heart medal. Jayna's goal in co-founding the organization is to support service members and their families through the complicated application process and to advocate for them to receive proper medical care, rehabilitation, and official recognition of their combat injury. Jayna currently resides in Portland, OR with her husband and two children.
Kate Froede, BNSc., MSN, RN, Co-founder:
Native of Apopka, Florida, Kate graduated with a Bachelor of Nursing Science degree from Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, and has worked primarily in Emergency and Trauma settings, spending several years in civilian service for the Department of the Army. She later earned a Master of Science in Nursing degree from Loyola University New Orleans, with specific research focus on Traumatic Brain Injuries (namely mild TBI and injuries sustained from blast exposure in Operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom). Kate started this research in 2007, and independently developed data sets and extrapolated potential clinical findings prior to the release of the DoD's large-scale studies in 2009. She has experience volunteering and working on military installations abroad and within the United States.