A Sailor, an Engineer, and a Writer walk into a bar, and while picking themselves off the sidewalk they look at each other and think….”we probably should have tried the door first.”
BACKGROUND
Even Keel has been slowly developing into the organization it is today. It started as simply the idea of exchanging of positive accomplishments amongst friends, and the support given to each other during those productive undertakings. Now it is an official 501(c)3 nonprofit association with the intent on helping merchant mariners. Each of us has different specialties and ideas of how we can help, but each of us want those ideas focused on the primary goal of assisting the members of the Merchant Marine.
WHY THE MERCHANT MARINE?
Each of our members has seen the impact of the Merchant Service on society, and also sees the deficiency in support provided to mariners. One board member has served as a senior officer in the Navy’s arm of the merchant service. Another has been a mariner himself, and still a third has seen all the areas where he himself has supported the community in his own right, and wondered why there is no concerted effort on this front.
WHAT WE DO
Our Approach is three fold:
- Help Mariners organize their lives, and specifically with regard to finances. A life at sea is not structured well to support steady bill payment, or to handle surprise expenditures. We hold to help Mariners find ways to sort their lives and their accounts to help alleviate one stress that comes with going to sea.
- Getting involved with the community. Volunteer and Public service are areas each of our founders have found purpose, support, and friendship. We seek to present opportunities for mariners to assist local neighborhoods, international charities, and countless other organizations. Reasons for this are not solely altruistic, because the volunteering individual themselves often benefits the most. It’s a great way to make friends, create working contacts, and simply have something interesting to do while off a ship.
- Address Mariner mental health. We are not ashamed to admit going to sea takes a toll on a Mariner’s mental health. Months at sea year in and year out wear on an individual and their family. This strain can lead to countless issues from marital stress to substance abuse to suicide. We seek to take the stigma out of mental health challenges, and work on ways to allow mariners to relieve themselves of some of these burdens. In doing this Even Keel believes the Merchant Service will feel the benefits, and in turn so will all the communities it works with.