About Us

Jim Welch is the Founding member of Veterans R&R. After working with a group of Veterans in Lake and McHenry counties who were seeking alternative treatments for PTSD, Jim realized a need was not being met. He envisioned an organization dedicated to providing Veterans with educational and outreach programs that will help to enhance veterans’ productivity and quality of life.

Jason is a founder of Veterans R&R. Nearly every male in his family served in the military, including one of his brothers, and Jason views the organization as a way of giving back to all the men and women that serve our country.

Kimberley Bentele is the wife of Marine Corp Veteran Ryan Bentele, as well as a Board Member for Veteran’s R&R.  She has helped Ryan deal with the physical and non-visible wounds of war, including PTSD and a TBI.  After finding Operation Wild Horse in 2017, Kimberley found there to be a profound change in Ryan’s PTSD symptoms. They have subsequently both devoted a great deal of time to community outreach and volunteering to help other Veteran families in the area.

Tim has a very personal connection to Veterans R&R. His wife’s godson is a Vet and Purple Heart recipient who has been impacted greatly by both physical and emotional scarring from many years serving in combat zones. Tim hopes that his very small sacrifice of time working at Veterans R&R—compared to the sacrifices made by those who’ve served—contributes to making Veterans lives better.

A “son of a Sailor” and Navy brat, Peter and his family have lived all over the world as his father served in the United States Navy for nearly 30 years. You could say that loyalty, honor and patriotism are at the fundamental core of who he is. A native Chicagoan, Peter is currently living in the heart of Wisconsin—a Bear fan residing behind the Cheddar Curtain!

Dan was born and raised in the Chicago area and grew up hunting & fishing throughout Illinois.  As Dan and his brother learned to hunt, their father instilled in them some key principles:  always be safe, abide by the rules and regulations, respect the game, ethically harvest only what you will eat and always cherish the opportunity to spend time in the outdoors with family and friends.  Additionally, Dan was raised to love our county and appreciate the men & women of our military whose sacrifices provide us with these precious freedoms we richly enjoy.

Patti grew up the granddaughter of two WWII veterans. One a Marine who was captured on Wake Island and spent years as a POW in Japan.  The other a Navy machinist who served on the USS Hancock. Without a firsthand understand of the struggles her grandfathers both endured during wartime service, Patti grew up knowing there were emotional scars from their time in service. As an adult she learned about PTSD and started to draw the lines to connect her experiences, those in her family and her grandfathers back to their experiences during WWII.

Dr. Cheryl Novas, M.S., Ph.D. (c), EAGALA Certified Mental Health Professional has served in social service leadership for over twenty-five years. Coming from a multi-generational military family, her focus has been on advocacy for veterans, active military and their families. Her masters thesis explored PTSD, combat stress disorder and secondary PTSD. Her doctoral dissertation focuses on the experience of family caregivers for combat disabled veterans.