Where Can You Turn? Published Sept. 4, 2009 By Col. Cassie Barlow 48th Mission Support Group commander ROYAL AIR FORCE LAKENHEATH, England -- Deployments, high operations tempo, family, school ... AAHHH ... where can I turn? You name the challenge; we have a host of agencies here on RAF Lakenheath that are ready to assist. On a daily basis, we have many different challenges to deal with. The success of our daily mission on Lakenheath depends on the abilities of our military and civilian members. Sometimes, our abilities are not in complete focus because we are thinking about family, school, relationships or many other challenges that can arise in daily life. Lakenheath has a host of organizations around base that are setup to help everyone deal with the challenges in their daily lives so they can better perform their role in making the mission a success. I'd like to remind everyone of the wonderful organizations we have across the base. Feel free to contact any of them for more information. The Airman and Family Readiness Center, which can be reached at 226-3847, works in partnership with the Lakenheath community to create a network of professionals and agencies dedicated to serving our force and families. If you're not sure where to turn, the A&FRC can help you make a step in the right direction. Our Health and Wellness Center, which can be reached at 226-2710, encourages healthy lifestyle practices using comprehensive, quality and outcome-based health programs. Our chapel, which can be reached at 226-3711, offers a number of programs to include faith-based retreats and a number of activities and social events for Lakenheath youth. Family Advocacy, which can be reached at 226-8070, builds strong healthy families by offering many parenting and relationship classes on a monthly basis. Such classes include the highly successful "Dads Class" for expectant fathers and fathers of newborns to 12-month-olds. Mental Health, which can be reached at 226-8603, and Alcohol Drug Abuse Prevention and Treatment Program, which can be reached at 226-8602, provide outpatient and preventative education services for servicemembers and referral options for family members. Our Military Family Life Consultant program offers free and anonymous consultations on deployment, marriage, relationship, stress or communication challenges to servicemembers and their families. They are available every day. On weekends and evenings they can be reached directly by calling 07748 983 894. The Sexual Assault Prevention and Response program, which can be reached at 226-7272, seeks to create awareness and eliminate sexual assaults by prevention training, education, victim advocacy and accountability. They also provide 24-hour access to victim advocacy resources. Our school liaison office, which can be reached at 226-5078, is an advocate and point of contact for military and civilians with school-aged children. The SLO will partner with such agencies as Drug Demand Reduction to provide relevant workshops and events for teachers, parents and students. The A&FRC, which endeavors to liaison with all helping agencies, is housed with the American Red Cross, which can be reached at 226-1855, and Women, Infant and Children-Overseas, which can be reached at 226-1728, in Building 950, to ensure maximum accessibility to families. The ARC offers first aid, CPR and healthy pregnancy classes while WIC-O counselors provide resources and tips on meal planning and food preparation. The A&FRC is a one-stop shop, offering employment, transition, relocation and volunteer resources for active duty members and their spouses, personal finance consultations and family readiness assistance for our deployed personnel and the family members who support them. As you can easily see, there are many agencies on base who have the primary mission of providing help to our military and civilian community. Please take advantage of these wonderful services!