About Us

Finding Inspiration in Every Turn

Our Why

Because too many of our veterans and first responders are fighting battles long after their service ends and they’re doing it alone.

They face burnout, trauma, job loss, and isolation at rates that should alarm all of us. In Charlotte County, they’re 10X more likely to face a mental health crisis with suicidal thoughts than the general population.

Not on our watch.

TRA (Trauma Recovery Alliance) was built by and for those who’ve walked that road. We’re not here to patch holes in a broken system we’re here to rebuild it from the ground up. Peer-first. Purpose-driven. Community-rooted.

We offer more than “support.”

We offer paths to real healing, belonging, and opportunity.

Workshops and Events that create connection without pressure
Job and Business Pathways that restore dignity and income
Peer-Led Support with no red tape, no judgment
Local Partnerships that build lasting impact together

This is where service meets next chapter. And no one writes it alone.

Why We Started

TRA was born from a simple but urgent truth: recovery is possible and no one should have to walk that path alone. Our founders came together with a shared vision: to bridge the gap between trauma-informed knowledge and real-world, accessible healing practices. We saw too many people fall through the cracks: misunderstood, misdiagnosed, or simply unheard. We knew there had to be a better way.

Our Story

At Trauma Recovery Alliance, we understand burnout, cumulative stress, and the long shadow that trauma can cast, because our family has lived it, just like so many others in the veteran and first responder community.

Shawn spent over 30 years as a Firefighter, carrying the constant weight of crisis and responsibility. His wife, Jami, saw the quiet toll it took: the exhaustion, the emotional shutdown, the unspoken strain that so many responders normalize. And as a mother, she saw those same patterns in her son, Mark, a 15 year Service Disabled Retired Army Veteran who returned home with experiences the world didn’t quite know how to hold or understand.

Their stories aren’t unique and that’s exactly the point.

Across our community, veterans and first responders face burnout, moral injury, chronic stress, and the lingering effects of traumatic exposure. Many navigate it in silence, unsure where to turn or how to ask for help without fear of judgment or career repercussions.

TRA was built to change that.

We created a space where the realities of service are understood without explanation. A place that recognizes PTSD and burnout not as personal failings, but as human responses to sustained pressure and trauma. A community that says: You’re not alone. You’re not broken. You’re rebuilding and we’ll walk that path with you.

Every program at TRA is peer-led and community-rooted because trust comes from lived experience, not titles. Our mission is to restore dignity, connection, and purpose through practical pathways that support emotional safety, healing, and belonging.

For the more than 19,000 veterans in Charlotte County.
For the firefighters, police, and EMTs who carry invisible weight home.
For the families who shoulder the stress alongside them.

This isn’t charity. This is a community taking care of its own with understanding, empathy, and action.

Meet The Team

Jami Joannes

President

Co-Founder

Before moving here to SW Florida, Jami lived in Milwaukee Wisconsin for 25 years. Jami has a strong background in Business Management and Marketing. Jami is heavily involved in Charlotte County. Jami has immersed herself into our community, working with many businesses and non-profit organizations. Jami strives to make companies become extremely successful while watching their bottom line to achieve a high/strong profit ratio.

One of Jami’s goals is to help her husband start a camp for Kids that are burned in fire related injuries. Back in Wisconsin there was a camp that Jami and her husband were a part of and would like to see one started here in the Florida. Jami has a husband, Shawn (a retired firefighter) and three wonderful children.

Mark Messina

Vice President

Co-Founder

A retired, service-disabled U.S. Army veteran with 15 years of service. His lived experience and leadership give TRA a grounded, trusted voice in supporting veterans, first responders, and their families.

Mark partners with community leaders, funders, and local businesses to create practical, stigma-free pathways that reduce isolation, burnout, and overwhelm helping people rebuild purpose and connection. His work reflects a clear belief: no veteran or responder should ever face their next chapter alone.

Shawn Joannes

Treasurer

Co-Founder

Shawn and Jami know that “What you’ve seen doesn’t define you. How you build your next chapter does.”

Shawn devoted more than 30 years to the fire service, serving as a Fire Heavy Equipment Operator, Firefighter, Paramedic, and EMT with the Milwaukee Fire Department. His career began in high school with the Grafton and Perry Fire Departments and included service on the Dive Rescue Team and Juvenile Fire Setters Program. After sustaining a career-ending injury in a working fire, Shawn carried forward his dedication to helping others in a new way.

Together with his wife Jami of nearly 30 years, he co-founded the Trauma Recovery Alliance to support individuals and families living with PTSD. Rooted in both lived experience and compassion, TRA exists to reduce stigma, expand awareness, and help people build strong, hopeful next chapters.

Peri Otterstrom-Bluemer

Human Resources Director

Peri Otterstrom-Bluemer serves as the Human Resources Director for Trauma Recovery Alliance, where she leads organizational development and strengthens TRA’s partnership network across Florida.

Peri oversees internal structure, people strategy, and leadership alignment, ensuring TRA operates with clarity, accountability, and sustainability. In addition to guiding HR functions, she plays a key role in building and maintaining strategic partnerships that expand TRA’s reach and impact throughout the state.

Her work connects people, organizations, and opportunities in ways that reinforce TRA’s mission to build community-rooted pathways for veterans and first responders.