About Anchored4Life
Over the years, many people have asked how Anchored4Life® got started. The Trevor Romain Company has been working with the military since 2007, providing social and emotional support through With You All the Way Tours. The Tour has been presented in 16 countries and has impacted over 500,000 youth. During this time, the Trevor Romain Company made connections with Navy CNIC CYP and NRSE Region SL. Anchored4Life® would not be a reality without their vision, inspiration, and persistence.
OUR PARTNERS
In August 2015, The United States Navy awarded The Trevor Romain Company a contract to provide transition and resiliency programming to military-connected youth and their classmates. Dr. Shawna Harlin-Clifton, Executive Director, and Mrs. Tabitha Gable, Director of Development, were hired to develop and implement this program. The initial name of the program was The Trevor Romain Transition and Resiliency Program, shortened as TRTRP. While Dr. Shawna Harlin-Clifton was on her way to a meeting to present information about TRTRP, she spotted a boat anchor. Given the program was designed to build resilient life skills and a firm foundation, the name Anchored4Life® became a better fit. A strong anchor will keep you balanced for life. Developing those peer-to-peer resiliency life skills would set youth up for a lifetime of success.
Dr. Shawna and Tabitha worked hard to develop a program that meets the needs of worldwide military-connected elementary-age youth and their classmates. After the development phase was complete, the program launched in March 2016 in Millington, TN, at Millington and EA Harrold Elementary Schools. These schools have shown that the vision can become a reality. The Marine Corps partnered with Anchored4Life® in October 2016, and the Air Force partnered with Anchored4Life® in January 2018.
In August 2018, after focus groups were held to ensure there was youth representation, the middle school-age programming was ready to be piloted. The pilot was done in Virginia Beach. After a year of implementation and feedback working with Virgnia Beach, the program was expanded worldwide.
A Year To Remember
2020 was a year that all of us will remember. This is also the year Anchored4Life® was planning to implement high school programming, and Anchored4Life® received an extension to delay the program. During 2020, Anchored4Life® grew quickly based on the need to support military-connected youth and their classmates in building those resiliency life skills. The Army partnered with Anchored4Life® to train select locations beginning in October 2020.
In August 2022, the high school pilot began in Virginia Beach, Florida, California, and New Mexico. The training and program materials were designed based on research and youth participation; it was vital for the high school training that steps were taken to even greater measures due to limited research after the pandemic. Focus groups helped with each feature, and the overall theme from the focus groups was that stress had to be reduced. The club features were used, and the high school programming has been provided to locations worldwide.
When a need is brought to us, we work hard to understand the need and to find a solution. A need was brought to us for Teen Centers on military installations. The Navy asked us to design a program to meet the continued needs of the Teen Center locations. Anchored4Life developed the Teen Center programming and began the pilot in December 2023.
Over the years we have grown to include over 40 States, 10 Countries, 2 Territories, and the District of Columbia. When adding locations, we worked hard to find dedicated staff whose passion is the same as ours, to help children become happier, healthier, and more confident. We are a small but might team. Please see our group picture below and click on our individual photos to learn more about our team.
Our Team
Dr. Shawna Harlin-Clifton
Executive Director
Tabitha Gable
Director of Development
Shane Oliva
Learning Consultant
Karen White
Learning Consultant
Tami Patton
Learning Consultant
Jennifer Drullinger
Learning Consultant
Anita Benton
Learning Consultant
Shannon Flaherty
Learning Consultant
Kristy To
Learning Consultant
We want to recognize Advisers and Team Leaders who will implement this training in schools and child youth programs around the globe. Our military youth must stay connected while learning resiliency life skills and integrating into their communities. It takes resolute Advisers and Team Leaders to ensure this outcome. Anchored4Life® has trained thousands of youth and hundreds of Advisers in over 10 Countries, from elementary through high school. Providing connections while building resiliency life skills for youth to become productive young adults has been and will remain our focus. We continue to be honored and privileged to watch youth grow as they learn new life skills.
We look forward to many more years of making connections, building life skills, and seeing youth grow into productive young adults.
