AARP July/August 2011 Article "Homeless No More"

CHAT Author's Footnote:  

When I started CHAT I had what I thought to be unique ideas for providing transitional housing and healing programs for veterans on a small scale.  As it turns out the model below reflects largely what I had in mind for this transitional housing although it is a much larger concept in a permanent housing program.  This model certainly serves as a national model for the effective and healthy housing (including recovery programs) for our very worthy veterans.

This is a program the U,S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of Veterans Affairs designed to help find housing for homeless vets.  I would share the link to this page where the original AARP article appeared but you must enroll as an AARP subscriber to be able to view the article.  So, I am typing it on the CHAT blog for a point of review and reference to CHAT readers.

Homeless No More

Four years ago, Michael Shindler's  home was a  sleeping bag under a pine tree in a part in Pittsfield, Mass.  Today, the 54-year old Air Force veteran, recovering alcoholic and mentor to at-risk kids lives just up the street, but worlds away in his own gleaming apartment.  He also owns a share of the complex and has a voice in how the place is run.  His permanent digs are part of a newly constructed, think-outside-the-box-center for homeless vets - The Gordon H. Mansfield Veterans Community.

Opened in January, this groundbreaking approach to housing is helping end homelessness for American veterans.


Shindler and 38 other former military men, average age 54, live in brand-new solar-paneled, attached units in  a development that looks far more like high-end than affordable housing.  Their monthly rent, which ranges from $580 to $682, is subsidized in part by a joint program of the he US Department of Housing and Urban Development and Department of Veterans Affairs is designed to help find housing for homeless vets.  They pay the rest of their rent with earned income, their social security and veterans housing funds.  They must pay $2,500 to buy a limited-equity ownership in the development.


If the down payments proves too steep, local banks may lend them the money interest-free or give outright donations to Soldier On, the nonprofit that created this community and works with federal, state and local agencies to provide shelter, support and job training for homeless vets.


The $6.1 million project, built with federal, state and private foundation grants, is debt-free.  Each vet receives his share of any rent money left over after the center pays for insurance, maintenance and reserves fro repairs.  This year, each vet will pay around $7,000 in rent and get back around $2,100.  If a stakeholder decides to move or dies, Soldier On will buy back his share for $2,500.


"It's a great project." says Pete Dougherty, director of homeless veterans programs for the Department of Veteran Affairs.  It's the only one with equity shares, and their board of directors includes veterans who determine their own needs, rather than have others tell them what to do."


Already a successful model, the community is being replicated in other places.  A new project for 60 homes to be build on the campus of the VA Medical Center Northampton, Mass., just received federal funding.  A similar project in Agawam, Mass. has land to build.  Soldier On was recently funded for a similar project for female veterans and their children, and has two more sites in mind in Massachusetts.  Dougherty expects the model to expand nationwide.


Gaining at Home


"Think about it. We've taken people from being homeless to homeownership," says Jack Downing, president of Soldier On. "These men and women who have served have lost everything, so to be able to reestablish their dignity and purpose and give them a place that is theirs allows them a great sense of belonging."


Sam Bennett, 52 knows this well.  The former Army tank gunner has been homeless four times since he was honorably discharged in 1981.  He become a prison guard, then served time in prison for robbery, was a drug addict, and for six years lost contact with his four daughter and their mother.


But now he has a studio apartment in the Mansfield community, furnished like most others with donated items: " Its not a room, it's not a shelter.  It's a wonderful feeling to say, "This is mine.' When I come home, I can throw off my shoes and pick them up later or decorate any way I want.  I feel normal."


Bennett is also a certified substance abuse counselor, and earns $40,000 a year as a case manager for Soldier On "helping people just like me who have the same issue I had" at at he nonprofit's transitional shelter and treatment program.  He lived there for a month while receiving treatment for drug and alcohol abuse.  It also happens to be on the same property just across a driveway from Bennett's new apartment.  His relationship with him family now? "Beautiful!" he says.

Sam Bennett always wondered how it would feel to own a house. "Now, I know what its like to have something that is mine,"  he says.

According to Downing, one fifth of all homeless Americans today are veterans, many of whom lack support because they have burned their bridges with relatives.  Here's why:  Of the nearly 550 vets that Soldier On helps annually with emergency, transitional and permanent housing, 88 percent have substance abuse issues, and 84 percent have mental health issues.


Downing recalls that when he started at Soldier On 10 years ago, not one of the vets had any family visit them at Christmas.  "It was stunning," he says. "I've worked in prisons and rehabilitation centers my entire life, and never has there been a community that not only has lost so much but has been so marginalized by everyone."


After Alan Nash came back from the Vietnam War, the now-60-year-old started drinking and "didn't know how to get help.  People were calling vets terrible things and spitting at us. I felt rejected," he says.  He lived in his car in Connecticut, going from campground to campground, until the car died one day.  In 2003, Nash entered a veterans program for substance abuse, then wound up at Soldier On's transitional shelter before snagging his one-bedroom apartment.  He loves cooking for himself, and "waited for so long to have my independence back," he says.  "This is my home.  It's permanent!"


House Calls


At Soldier On, Nash can also get medical, mental health and job-training services.  Therapists and other professionals frequently come right to the vets' apartments or the transitional shelter building next door.  A local bank sponsors one-on-one money management sessions.  When residents need to go for outside help or a job interview, a ride is available.


Since just 17 percent of the residents have driver's licences, "we deliver all the services they need where they live," says Downing.  "They keep their appointments and have continuity in their treatment."


Tough Love


The vets say the support they get from one another, not to mention staff, helps them battle their demons, too. "We all care about each other, "says Nash,  John Woodman, 93, wearing penny loafers and jeans, agrees.  "We are all people who have had a hard time in life and are like a bank of brothers who have a natural affection for each other.  We've seen things nobody should see."  A widower with a "Proud to Be an American" blanket on his bed, Woodman served in the Army during World War II and has a daughter who lives nearby.  "As far as I'm concerned, this place is magic!  It's rehabilitating people who badly need it and giving them a springboard for a new life. There is freedom here and, at the same time, there is discipline."


Residents are held accountable for their actions, but if they don't toe the line, there is collective soul-searching rather than finger-pointing.  If they skip their rent payment, for instance, the board of directors and staff will work with them to find ways to catch up and be punctual in the future.  That might mean meeting with the local bank to work on their budget or come up with a payment plan or having fellow vets remind them why rent money gets paid before a flat-screen TV purchase.  One thing the board doesn't plan on doing is evicting them.


It's a similar philosophy if a vet has an alcohol or drug relapse.  Rather than play tough guy and threaten punishment or throw them out, as some programs do,"we say, 'What haven't we done to build a relationship of trust with you?" says Downing.  We don't see them as failures, but rather take responsibility for their failure.  We'll do whatever it takes to make them successful."


A Model


The Gordon H. Mansfield vets also run and own several businesses. A construction crew of six goes out into the community every day, and other entrepreneurial opportunities include greenhouse, vending machine and plastic assembly businesses.  Technical assistance comes from Soldier On.


The group is having an impact on those outside their small military community.  Shindler, who once slept in the park down the road, now talks to students at the local high school about the three things he knows best:  alcoholism, homelessness and the military. "Some of the kids are on the fence," he says.  "They want to hear from someone who has been there."  Students from another school join the vets for dinner every Friday to learn aboout  their hard-knock lives - in the hope that they'll be discouraged from following suit.  The superindentendant of the Pittsfield schools has presented Shindler with a certificate of appreciate for working with students.


Shindler, who sits on the community's board of directors, is also appreciative of Soldier On.  "Without this program" he says, "I would have continued self-medicating.  If you told me when I was living in the park in 2006 that I'd be here today, and with a place of my own, I wouldn't have believe it.  I never, ever though I would be afforded this opportunity. "


End of AAAP article**********
Sally Abrams is the author and writes on aging and boomers and has been published in time, Newsweek and the New York Times.  Web site is:  sallyabrahms.com

Thousands of Disabled Veterans Eligible For Better Care

(This article/video appeared on the 9news web site 2011-08-11). Please let any disabled vet you know about this information!  Here is the link to the video which most likely only be available for a short time:

http://www.9news.com/news/article/212912/339/Thousands-of-veterans-eligible-for-better-care-

DENVER - Nearly 75,000 veterans across the U.S. - 1,500 in Colorado alone - are eligible to receive a thorough review of their disability ratings. The review could make the difference between a one-time severance check and a lifetime of benefits for the veterans involved.

The only problem, as Michael LoGrande sees it, is that so far, only a small fraction of those eligible have bothered to look into it.The president of the Physical Disability Board of Review came to Colorado from Washington D.C. in order to try to get the word out.

"The government is simply trying to make sure that it got it right," LoGrande said on Wednesday.

The PDBR was created in 2008 by Congress and started reviewing cases in 2009. To date, less than 5 percent of those eligible have asked for a review.

To be eligible, a veteran, according to the board's policy, "must have been medically separated between Sept. 11, 2001, and Dec. 31, 2009, with a combined disability rating of 20 percent or less, and not have been found eligible for retirement.

"Since the board started reviewing cases, it has upgraded the ratings for veterans more than 50 percent of the time. Once veterans are deemed to be 30 percent or more disabled, they are eligible to receive monthly payments as well as medical insurance. The reviews came about, according to LoGrande, because of a feeling that the various military branches had been unable to come up with a uniform standard for disability ratings.

It can take upwards of a year to go through the review process, but LoGrande believes the process to be not only worth it but incredibly fair as well.

For more information on the PDBR head to:
http://www.health.mil/About_MHS/Organizations/MHS_Offices_and_Programs/PDBR.aspx

Homeless Veterans: Trying To Find Help and Hope "Stand Down" San Diego, CA

The above headline is from CBS program 60 minutes.  I reference this in the CHAT blog to explore as a project for the Denver area.  It is a homeless outreach project called 'Stand Down"  in San Diego. Being a once a year event for the last 23 years, its success speaks for itself. It is a temporary tent city where once a year homeless veterans may seek refuge, many types of assistance and provides access to  programs that hopefully get them back on their feet.  


The link to see this 60 minutes program is: http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=6966795n
This video details what San Diego did in this very special outreach project to the homeless soldiers/veterans in their community. Below is the accompanying article appearing in print http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/10/14/60minutes/main6958101.shtml


(CBS)  One weekend a year, nearly a thousand military veterans assemble in a camp in San Diego. What brings them there is what they have in common: they're all homeless. The vets gather for something called "Stand Down," started in 1988 by a solider-turned-clinical psychologist named Jon Nachison and his colleague, Robert van Keuren.

Back then, it was an emergency response to homelessness among Vietnam vets but, 23 years later, Nachison is welcoming the generation from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Stand Down is a three day campout that's part job fair, part health clinic, part sobriety meeting. The name is a military term for the time when a solider can put down his weapon and stop fighting. The homeless go for a shot at redemption.

"60 Minutes" and correspondent Scott Pelley went to Stand Down to understand why so many people who've served their country find coming home so hard. 


It's was a Friday morning in July when Nachison was greeting his troops as they waited in line - homeless vets and their families who had waited all night to get in. They were literally a battalion, 947 men, women and children.

"When people come in, they're instantly transported back to the military, a time when they wore the uniform, where they were proud, where they were walkin' tall," Nachison told Pelley. "You want them to remember a time in life when they were proud of themselves," Pelley remarked.

"I wanted to evoke that person in them," Nachison replied. Nachison does that by putting them inside a military-style base on a San Diego high school athletic field: 30 sleeping tents, erected by Marines from nearby Camp Pendleton. Also at the campout, there was hot chow, warm showers, clean clothes and fresh hope.

Asked who he can save, Nachison told Pelley, "People can save their self, I can't save anybody."
"You don't expect a miracle to happen when they came here for three days?" Pelley asked.
"Oh I do," Nachison said. "I do."

The chance at that miracle came with over 3,000 volunteers who helped the vets check into VA (U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs) benefits and look into jobs. There was medical care, dental care and even a temporary municipal court where they could clear tickets for loitering or sleeping on the street.

Why are these people on the street?

"There must be some gap that exists between military service and becoming a civilian," Nachison explained. "You're told what to wear you're given everything and then suddenly you've lost your entire family, you've lost your identity."

"You think some people fall through that gap between military life and civilian life?" Pelley asked.
"And for some people it's a chasm," Nachison said.

It was a chasm for Charles Worley, who served with the Marines in Iraq. He's still in the reserves, subject to being recalled. Based on his clean-shaven appearance, we mistook him for a volunteer until we heard a volunteer coordinator ask him how long he had been homeless. "A few months, about six," he replied.

Worley left the Marines in 2008 and joined the "Great Recession." Like everyone at Stand Down, he had his service record verified by the VA, then he was assigned to one of the tents that go by the names "Alpha," "Bravo," "Charlie," and so on. "Delta" tent was Worley's first home in a long time. The night before he came to Stand Down, he told Pelley he slept in Old Town Park in San Diego.


(CBS)  Saturday morning, we met Marguerite Somers and learned about something else that's new: there are more women among homeless vets because women now make up 14 percent of our forces. Somers is a former sailor who served until 1999, and she too had trouble making that transition from military to civilian life. Shortly after getting out of the Navy she got divorced and began drinking heavily. Now, homeless three months, she's desperate for help for her alcoholism and meth abuse. 

"I have more potential than that. And I don't want to waste my life anymore. I'm tired of it. And this has given me new hope," she told Pelley. "You said that you'd lost everything. And your family," Pelley remarked. "I lost my son a year ago because of my abuse issues. I owned a home. I lost that. I lost my family's support. I lost my job. Wound up with a bunch of legal issues. You know, I was facing prison time. Just nothing good came out of it," she said.

Addiction is a big reason some vets remain on the street for years. It's part of the deal at Stand Down that they come to meetings that might be the first step to recovery.

The best shot at rehab attracted Marguerite Somers to one of the tents: it was a chance to go to Veterans Village of San Diego (VVSD), which sponsors Stand Down. Nachison, Van Keuren and several others founded VVSD in 1981. At the time, it was known as Vietnam Veterans of San Diego.

Now, Veterans Village is an $8 million-a-year program, much of it funded by the VA. Among its services is a recovery program that offers nearly a year of inpatient rehab. But that's overwhelmed: funding is limited, and those running rehab programs were taking applications because they could choose only 68 patients out of the 947 at Stand Down. They were looking for people who seemed motivated. Somers wouldn't find out whether she made the cut until the next day, Sunday.

As we walked around the camp, we found some of the reasons that homelessness among vets is a chronic problem. Although the VA says the number is falling, there were some quarter of a million who experienced life on the streets last year: a lot of it is addiction and debilitating illness.

Bill Yarling was more typical of those at Stand Down. Older, an Army medic during the 1980s, he been disabled by years of epileptic seizures. At the campout, Yarling knew what no one else could see: that the soldier inside hadn't surrendered. He washed off a year of homelessness and, if nothing else, enjoyed a ceasefire from the struggle on the street.

"It's hard to explain. It really is. But it just makes you feel better about yourself," Yarling told Pelley, after getting a haircut, a shave, and a clean change of clothes. "You get back in touch with reality." "The person you were before you were homeless," Pelley remarked.
"Exactly. And as you can tell, I did, you know? But, it's not easy living on the streets, okay?" Yarling said.
Yarling came looking for housing but he found what Charles Worley discovered: sometimes, the programs don't match the need. When he was applying for temporary housing at VVSD, Worley was asked if he had an alcohol problem."No, I have a bed problem I need somewhere to sleep and if telling them I have an alcohol problem gets me a place to sleep, I will sit through the AA meetings and the classes so I can go to sleep at night and not have to worry about anything," Worley said.

Worley and Yarling couldn't get into available housing because they don't need rehab. There are other programs that provide housing for thousands of vets but they cover about 20 percent of the homeless.

Stand Down can't track a thousand homeless vets, so there's really no way to know how many might have picked up a lead on a job or a home or how many decided, finally, to stick to their recovery meetings. What we could count were those chosen to go into that Veterans Village inpatient rehab program.

Sunday morning, the vets came in one at a time and most heard there was no room for them. But Marguerite Somers, who had no place to go, got a spot. "Why do you think you can do it now?" Pelley asked. "I know I have that hope restored in me. And I have the resources. And I just know that's what I need to do now. And I want it for myself. You know. I'm done living like this," she replied.

On Sunday afternoon, Stand Down ended with what they call "graduation." As a bagpiper played, they marched with military pride for one last shot of self-esteem. Bill Yarling raised the flag for "Bravo" tent, Charles Worley for "Delta." They joined hands in a closing prayer. And then, it was time to leave. "And when you see them leave you think what?" Pelley asked Jon Nachison. "It's hard. It's like, you know, God speed, you know. And there's so much that people need to do to be able to reach that escape velocity from being homeless. I hope that they get it. I hope that they have it," he replied.

Recently, the VA set a goal of ending homelessness among vets in five years. The government will spend a billion dollars next year on housing and rehab. But, the 23rd annual Stand Down turned out to be the largest ever.

Marguerite Somers was among 68 who drove to rehab, while 879 others including Bill Yarling and Charles Worley, picked up their burdens to rejoin their battles.
Fresh troops fell in with a column that spans generations..
* * * * * End of Article

CHAT Proposal: This is a project I would like the Rocky Mountain Veterans Alliance Group to take on  as a veteran services outreach effort. Link to Rocky Mtn Vets Alliance  http://rockymountainveteransalliance.org/   It is certainly a big project to undertake; however, San Diego can be our road map and the leaders of Stand Down our mentors.  This to be a presentation at the group meeting as a future project for this group. 

Rocky Mountain Veterans Alliance July 21, 2011 Meeting

I attended a meeting for Rocky Mountain Veterans Alliance.  They have only been in existence for about one year and is a compilation of Denver agencies and individuals wishing to provide support and services to soldiers and veterans in the Denver area. 

http://rockymountainveteransalliance.org/

During the course of the meeting introductions went around the table offereing a  mixture of agencies and individuals offering veterans/soldiers.  Included were counselors, real estate agents, funeral services, products marketing, etc.  Most impressive was a presentation made about transcendental meditation for the condition of PTSD.  Brought to light at this meeting was the work the David Lynch Foundation has provided in 

researching this possibility.

http://www.dlfprojects.org/ptsd.html

Also, a video with a soldier citing his results is available on this link on youtube:

http://www.tm.org/blog/meditation/stress-meditating-veterans/

RMVA will have a charitable event to gather funds for the organizations  of RMVA.  This event will be in September around September 11, 2011.  Although there are other such events occurring at this time this event should be well attended and mark the beginning of other such events for this organization.

RMVA is looking at being a non-profit entity but believe at this time that funds required to create such an entity would be better served with the current service support non-profit organzations now providing support 

to soldiers/veterans in the Denver area.

I plan on attending the next meeting of RMVA and look forward to being a part of this worthy association.

An Interview with Sister Kateri Koverman May 3, 2011

Following is Sister Kateri Koverman’s credentials as detailed from her company’s web site Them Bones Veteran Community   http://thembonesveteran.org/aboutsr.htm

Sister Kateri Koverman holds a Master’s degree in Social Work, is a Licensed Independent Social Worker (LISW), and a Licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor (ICDC) in the State of Ohio.  Holds a Masters degree in Pastoral Ministry. Other training includes:  Certified as a teacher in the Oral Tradition of the Enneagram; Trauma Incident Reduction (TIR); Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT);Spiritual direction.  Worked during times of war in: Vietnam - 3 ½ years (1970, 1973 - 1975) Assisted in the coordination of the orphan airlift; for Catholic Relief Services before the fall of Saigon in April 1975; Ethiopia - 1 year; El Salvador - 2 ½ years; Was a consultant with refugees and persons traumatized by war/conflict for periods ranging from six weeks to a year in:  Sierra Leone; Thailand; Zambia; Armenia.  Taught part-time for 15 years at the College of Mount St. Joseph in the Departments of Social Work and Theology. Made return trips to Vietnam accompanying Vietnam veterans in 1992 and 2001. Co-founded Joseph House, a residential treatment facility for homeless veterans in Cincinnati. Was clinical director from 1993 to 2000. Established Them Bones Veteran Community in 2001. Has run trauma groups for veteran inmates in local jails for three years. Has been an individual and group psychotherapist with combat veterans for 12 years.

Here are Sister Koverman’s words and responses to my questions with as little editing on my part as possible:

There is a saying that I came across when I was in Vietnam when I was in the war.  There is no author; it is an Aboriginal saying; it is one that I have used in my professional ministerial life and it goes like this:

“If you have come to help me you are wasting your time.  But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine then let us work together.” 

Sister Koverman continues: When I read something of yours (CHAT blog reference) that said you are interested in the whole veteran issue for your own personal reasons, I wasn’t sure what that personal interest was but that is what made me think.  You know veterans can pick that up.  If somebody comes at them with a sense of I know what you need, there is a resistance there.  But, if there is a genuine humble sense of – “I am not a veteran but I want to share that which I have on your journey with you and learn from you as we go” that it is a mutual walk and not somebody handing down something. 

Dory – Comments:  I relayed to Sister Koverman I was married to a Vietnam veteran, I was so young and immature during that marriage and had no ability to understand what he went through or what he continued to go through including symptoms of PTSD.  I loved the man a great deal; however, our marriage broke up.  I had no resources or understanding of PTSD – nor did he to understand what he was going through.  It is in his honor (in part) that I am on this quest to assist veterans/warriors/soldiers in need.

Additionally, I had a handicapped sister who I helped take care of from the time I was five years old.  I believe living with her gave me special insight,an elevated level of compassion and empathy for the handicapped community.

It IS a co-journey I wish to share.  Dory Switzer

Sister Koverman continues: Dory – that is the story of so many women who were married to Vietnam veterans.  In the 1970’s PTSD was only named as a disorder in 1980.  All that time people were just guessing trying to figure out how to address these men who had problems.  And the problem was getting in the way of the country.  Rather than saying “we caused the problem and we need to come up with an understanding of it.”

Have you seen the Frontline 90-minute presentation which would have been done about a year ago in May 2010.  It is profoundly important if you haven’t viewed it - view the “Wounded Platoon.”  It has a number of brief sections of interviews with Veteran’s Administration (VA), with military, the Department of Defense, all authorities on the whole question of returning soldiers and why so many got in trouble.   There are two guys especially who it follows who are in prison right now. I worked with them.  I used to come out there once a month to our office out there but I had to stop as I had a stroke in September.  When I was out there in Colorado Springs, I worked in the jail.  I worked with both of these guys referenced in the Wounded Platoon. I was very pleased with what Frontline did with that presentation.   The link for viewing that 2 hour video is http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/woundedplatoon/  
You may view the Wounded Platoon on PBS Frontline to get more details about the circumstances surrounding PTSD among this platoon and the imprisonment of these two Wounded Warriors/soldiers.

Question: Can you describe the community of Colorado Springs specifically as it pertains to the military and the church community?  The military are very careful about what they share and how they posture the information they dispense.

Response: They hardly make a move unless it’s been approved by the next in command. I know through the years the previous Fort Carson general had lost two sons in the military.  I can’t recall his name. (General Mark Graham).  Things were very different under his administration then they are currently. His one son was killed in Iraq and the other son was in officer’s training and he hung himself. That husband and wife have incredible compassion in understanding the struggles of soldiers as well as family members.  With that compassion he ran Fort Carson very differently than the general now.  His wife was very active on base with the family members. She knew from the death of her one son on active duty and what they had no suspicions whatsoever of - was the deep, deep depression of the second son who killed himself.  Whoever the commander is, that will set the posture for the entire base.

Question: In reaching the younger soldiers (referenced as the Xbox generation) – what are the challenges in reaching that group?  This younger group has not identified who they are spiritually so when they go into combat they have no spiritual anchor.  Can you speak to that?

Response: That is true.  The youth and the age of the young soldiers is not that terribly different than the ages of the Vietnam soldiers who went right out of high school.  They were the ones who came back most wounded both morally and ethically.  William Nash, Navy psychiatrist (veteran in three war zones) began to see from 2006 – 2008 a high percentage of Marines and Navy who were being dishonorably discharged. This is one thing we know now that we didn't know in the days of Vietnam. Our current young men and women coming in are not that terribly different.  
Do you know what a dishonorable discharge is?  The constraints of that whole piece is that you get no VA benefits.  This means none of your physical or mental health needs having been exacerbated in the military – entitle you to no benefits (with that comes great dishonor).

Nash (Wounded Platoon reference) was saying we have got to figure out what we are doing wrong.  It is not that these young kids are wrong – it’s something that we are missing.  Over a period of time he took a real risk to reach out to an do an overview of 1,000 maybe 1,200 who were given dishonorable discharges.  He looked at their records from the time they came into boot camp to their first or second deployments to when it was when they were thrown out of the military.  What they found was that the high rate of what they then started calling “Combat Operational Stress Injury.”  It is the Navy and the Marines that came up with that concept.  Fort Carson in late 2009 and 2010 began to buy into that way of addressing the injuries. 

At first, they had three injuries calling them “COSI’s – Combat Operational Stress Injuries.”  They called them stress injuries instead of stress disorders because of the stigma attached to disorders.  Are you aware of the stigma literature?  The stigma around anybody who admits to any mental issues (mental emotional issues).  This is the stigma that young men as well as older National Guard or Reserve guys and gals.  This stigman has been in the military culture for such a long time – if you have anything other than a physical injury then that shows you are weak.  It is your fault.  Physical wounds (unless you shoot yourself) are not your fault. Emotional – psychological wounds – the stigmatizing belief is it is something that you brought on yourself. In order to try to turn that around Secretary of Defense Gates has done an incredible job of trying to change that stigmatized culture within the military. 

There are different kinds of non-physical injuries the Navy and the Marines initially came up with over a period of about three years.  They came up with about four of them.  The original ones were:

 

Trauma – which we understand – otherwise known as PTSD;

The second one is Fatigue Injury – at first when they came out with that people would say fatigue is part of the military (it comes with war) but we know biochemically what happens when they (soldiers) become to fatigued - the push in the last 18 – 20 months has been to move away from deployments that are one right on top of the other with less than a two year time in between because the body is so fatigued that it cannot rejuvenate and especially the brain.   When Bush came up with the 15 month tours instead of the 12 or 9 month tours it caused a higher reporting of fatigue.  Neurologists and all kinds of physicians could then track fatigue effectively and definitively say “it’s ruining the health of the young people.”

The third one is called Loss Injuries – People would make fun of that saying ”Losing your buddies or your buddies losing their limbs or their sight or their jaw or whatever – that is all part of war.”  Well it is but it psychologically takes a great toll.  We know what grief does.  In the past commanding officers would say “just get over it.  The guy is gone he entered the  military this is an all volunteer army don’t be sad.” You can’t tell somebody not to be sad.  It is a process you have to go through.

The last one is the most controversial. This one is  of such high impact especially on the young.  It is called “Belief or Moral Injury.”  It only finally was named and tracked it starting with those who served in Abu Ghraib.  This is the prison in Iraq where all of the abuse of the prisoners took place by the American soldiers. These events and what was taking place in Guantanamo involved the humiliation of not respecting the culture of those young men, women and older prisoners.  These soldiers see what their conscience knows is right and knows what is wrong and yet they are told to go against what is right in terms of carrying out orders. There is a great deal more literature on that kind of injury occurring within the last fifteen months to two years. This is one type of mental injury that most psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers and therapists know the least on how to deal with.  

The interview that I read about on your CHAT blog where Grove Higgins talks about treating the whole person (body, mind and the spirit) is a great holistic approach.  That approach is the one that if psychiatrists, psychologists, and social workers therapists understood  in these four (4) “Combat Operational Stress” injuries would be most comprehensive. The current paradigm or understanding as they look at combat injuries is TBI or PTSD or physical wounds.  They just don’t understand these other type injuries I just named.  There is the old saying that you can’t give to somebody else what you don’t have.  If you don’t have an integrated belief system yourself of healing in holistic way (of body, mind and spirit) for your own life journey – you are not going to walk on water and try to help somebody else to address their injuries in this holistic way.  You just don’t know the language. 

Question:  Can you address the unique issues of female soldiers/veterans?  The religious support community (Colorado Springs) seem to not be recognizing the female combat soldier and their needs.

Response:  There is such a huge need in that area. There is less understanding on how to do outreach.  I haven’t had a great deal of experience with military females.  I do some programming with the Kentucky National Guard and Advocate Generals the last two of which have allowed me to work with the men and then work with the women in terms of reintegration kind of programming.  The reality is the women have special needs but nobody wants to really say that; because, as soon as you state that, the question then becomes if they’ve got special needs then we shouldn’t be taking them in. 

So many corporations are demanding their people study and be sensitive to the whole question of diversity, sensitivity and respect.  Similarly, the same concept would seem beneficial for everybody’s sake in addressing female veteran/active soldier’s duty needs.  This approach would represent justice and something we have just got to do.

Many women I have come into contact, especially those women who are in the jail, too many came home, started getting in trouble, nobody really addressed the trouble, then the trouble got worse and they end up doing life sentences.  This is something that unless you can stop that early spiral it can happen so easily.  I do a lot of work with female veterans in the jail and I am trying to prevent this repeating pattern as it occurred with returning soldiers/veterans of Vietnam.

Women, I find, will not even admit that they are veterans because there is a lot of negative connotations connected with female veterans.   Much of it has to do with the perception that they are whores and they went in the military for a good time.  There are many misbeliefs that are so unfortunate – especially of those women who are of the lower to middle class and who sometimes don’t have a strong sense of themselves.  One thing they don’t want to let people know is where they tried to find a job in the military.

There is a key thing I don’t think much is written on is in regards to the all-volunteer army (military).  Once we moved to an all-volunteer army, men by themselves (absolutely) were not filling in all the need.  If it weren’t for the women soldiers our country’s defense system would not be able to meet its needs.  This is something people don’t like to talk about.  The thinking is “well – we can do without the women.”  No, you can’t.  If you look at who they are and where they are in the military, the unique roles woman are playing and often times these roles require a great deal of specialty – you can’t replace those specialty functions with just anybody.  Our administrations, all of our major departments and uniformed services must come to admit they can’t exist without women recruits (unless something totally changes).  Once they admit to this then they have got to say “how are we going to take care of the needs.”  I guess we call that sociologically a cultural lag.  The lag between reality and what has not (in literature and in practice) caught up with the reality.  Who falls in the cracks are the very people we are talking about – the women. 

Dory – Comments:  The military in Colorado Springs are seeking out the religious support community to provide support services to soldiers and their families.  This I am sure as a result of budget and possibly program cuts and most probably diminishing services supporting the soldiers and their family.   It isn’t to say these programs aren’t very good or expansive in their dimension and coverage.

Response:  There are a lot of shady hard questions which once you are dealing with soldiers you have to face. Sometimes in the spiritual community there are those who are too simplistic in their religious beliefs (a community’s way of trying to make sense out of things).  What I am trying to figure out is why people handle things the way they do or the way they don’t.  It is almost like they don’t.  They want to do something but to really walk deep into the water of addressing life on life’s terms of our present military –is very demanding. Many of the people in the churches are just baffled by the truth of what has gone on with the guys and gals coming back and their deep moral questions. Unless they are very humble or unless they are truly holy holistic people, they think they have to know all the answers  And, if they don’t know the answers they prefer not to address the issues.  It is very complicated – very complicated. 

Dory’s Comment: Dr. Chris Phillips in a workshop for The Bridges to Healing  program presented on PTSD and TBI.  He emphasized the difference for the need for churches to provide support NOT treatment.  Further, stating they can get treatment professionally but what the military and their families need from the faith community is support.

Response:  That is why I started out with that Aboriginal quote:

“If you have come to help me you are wasting your time.  But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine then let us work together.” 

It is so central.  In recovery, healing veterans/soldiers do not need treatment by everybody who touches them. What they need is that mutuality of walking through the healing process.  It is the relational piece that feeds the soul much more realistically sometimes better than, the quote, professional treatment.  

Question: What is the capacity or ability for previous generation soldiers to assist or provide support to the current generation soldiers?  I would use the example of Vietnam Veterans providing support to the Iraq/Afghanistan generation of soldiers.

Response:  That is a very touchy question.  In the groups I had at the jail and the groups that come here to our agency - we sometimes have them mixed up.  Frequently, they are era specific.  I do programs for National Guard in different parts of the country. I did a lot of those programs out in Montana.  There are very few programs for veterans out there who are recently returned from deployment.  What they set up for me was to bring in from 300 to 400 miles away, guys and gals who are recently back or people who want to come to understand a little bit more about PTSD.  At this one meeting we only had about 13 to 14 folks.   Two of them were Vietnam veterans.  The others were all OIF (Operation Iraqi Freedom)  and OEF (Operation Enduring Freedom/War in Afghanistan) guys or gals.  One of the Vietnam veterans was so raw at his lack of integration of his own PTSD that we almost had a brawl between his anger and how much attention the recently returned veterans have gotten compared to the maltreatment the Vietnam veterans received. I was praying to God we would get through the session without somebody getting their head punched.  The reason I say that to you is because after that I became much more careful.  To match up these two generations of soldiers where there was great difference between how the civilian community received them once back home – well that is critical.  If you take the Vietnam veterans the whole country was in a difference place in terms of how they looked at the war and how they looked at people who served in that war.  Those guys came back - many with chips on their shoulders.  If Vietnam era veterans haven’t worked through their issues, to put them in any way with a younger generation soldier/veteran either from the Persian Gulf or recent wars – you are asking for trouble.  For some people they have got it under control.  The younger veteran does NOT need that guilt trip.  If you were to look at that as a possible way of supporting soldiers – I think it is possible.  I do a little of that myself.  But, I very carefully have to know who the Vietnam veteran is to know where they are at on their journey and if can they do the walking with younger generation soldier without laying a trip on them.  It takes some real knowing to know who your volunteers might be.

Additionally, I would strongly, strongly, strongly keep the sexes separate in any transitional housing.  It is the power play piece which concerns me.  Housing is about home.  Home brings about that which is familiar with most guys and in most situations where the male was dominant.  If they are in a housing situation whether temporary or in transition, to mix them up - you are asking for problems.  I have been working with people where their emotions are pretty raw.   

I will keep your efforts in my prayers….  End of Interview

Thank you Sister Koverman!!

Fundamentals of the Military Ministry May 19, 2011 - Army 101

I attended the Military Ministry Meeting on May 19, 2011 on the Fundamentals of Military Ministry.  This monthly meeting held at the Fort Carson base in the Soldiers Memorial Chapel.  The presenters for this meeting were Terry Blansett, Family Enrichment Program, Training Instructor, Army Community Service; Val Hoyt, Military Ministry Leader, Pikes Peak Christian Church, Director Military Ministry Partnership; and, Abbie Mortenson - Tessa.


Mr. Terry Blansett presented first providing an overview of the presentation Army Community Services provides to civilians of Army 101.  Army 101 is presented throughout the year the next presentation being on May 31, 2011 at the Fort Carson Community Service building.  It includes a review of military Terms, Acronyms and Chain of Command; Community Resources and Benefits as well as Entitlements; Expectations and Military Culture; TBI and PTSD; and, a Windshield Tour of Fort Carson.  This presentation was provided to the Colorado Springs Police to provide them a greater understanding of the Army.  
http://www.carson.army.mil/acap/acap.htm


There are a number of beneficial programs that Army Community Services offers to soldiers.  They include:
Domestic Relations Programs - boot camp for dads; domestic abuse, exceptional family member program (special needs), new parent support programs, marriage enrichment, relocation readiness.
Soldier and Family Assistance Program - Wounded Warriors, transportation, counselors, transition from active to civilian
Outreach Program - surviving spouses
Warrior Family Community Services Program
Military Family Life Program - counseling for couples, individuals and family; all are "off the record" no records kept, will meet in neutral public place providing for anonymity to anyone seeking counseling.


Val Hoyt presented on "Why to Military Families Need Community. She provided the web sites for both Fort Carson   http://www.carson.army.mil  and Peterson AFB http://www.peterson.af.mil  These links can provide information the the support services each base offers the soldiers and their families.


 Val also detailed what the individual churches can do and how to approach the military and their families.  The key points Val offered for any individual church community to seek out and provide services to the soldiers and their families were:
Learn to recognize Military Families - Visitor information, look for single moms/dads, honor those who serve by having them stand, reserved seating for military and families, designate a military ministry leader or person at each service.
Have Community Building Events - Monthly family potlucks, picnics, barbecues, weekend retreats, girls night out pot luck; Support Groups, Activity groups, Online Fellowship Groups - i.e. Facebook, Thank you lunches, dinners on Armed Forces Day/Memorial Day/Independence Day/Veterans Day, Host Families for Military Families.
Learn About Events and Happening in your community
Reach Out - advertise, personal invites, non-threatening events - offer scholarships for military families (socials, potlucks, ladies teas, luncheons, father/son outings, welcome home parties - any opportunities to connect without feeling judged or obligated.
Partner with Other Organizations- small organization, local organization to have regular gatherings
Learn About Military Organizations - in your area


Val emphasized the that military members NEED to be with like others.  Often, they need to know that there are others going through similar struggles and with whom they can relate and share resources.  The military find it hard to ask for help.  Organizations seeking to provide services need to be proactive. They DO NOT want to feel segregated.  It is a fine line to walk for any organization seeking to offer such support services.


The last presenter was Abby Mortenson, Community Coordinator for TESSA.  Abby explained the programs TESSA offers (doesn't stand for anything - just the name).  http://tessacs.org  Tessa's mission is to help women and their children achieve safety and well-being while challenging communities to end sexual and family violence.  They do three things:

1. Provide immediate safety for women, children and other victims escaping abuse.

2. Empower survivors through programs and support such as advocacy and counseling.

3. Create a safer future through education and outreach to schools, businesses, and other organizations. 

Domestic violence and sexual assault are not an easy topics to address, but with 1 in 6 households affected by domestic violence, and 1 in 4 women in Colorado becoming victims of sexual assault, it is a prevalent social ill that our friends, neighbors, and coworkers face every day. 

TESSA provides 45-minute brown-bag appropriate training sessions for businesses, churches, and other organizations. Participants gain a deeper understanding about the prevalence of domestic violence, its impact on the workplace and on the community as a whole. Topics include how to recognize and respond to domestic violence, domestic violence laws and definitions, how to craft a workplace policy inclusive of employee safety from such violence. 

Bridges to Healing Seminar How to Minister to the Military and Lead Combat Trauma Spiritual Care Groups

Woodman Valley Chapel Colorado Springs, Colorado

April 30, 2011

Sponsored by:  Military Ministry and El Pomar

Yesterday, I attended the “Bridges to Healing Seminar and Workshops.”  As I arrived I was very impressed by the sheer number of people expected (as I was one of the first arrivals coming from Golden, CO).  The reception attendees were gracious and most helpful to all as they arrived.  I was also impressed by the number of organizations represented as people began to arrive.  I realized I was not unfamiliar with many who were in this group as I had seen many of them at the monthly Ministry Forum held on the Fort Carson base.  This monthly meeting is sponsored by the Military Ministry meeting administered and presented by the Fort Carson Chaplains office.  Chaplain Gibbs is the Chaplain in charge at Fort Carson and one of the first to arrive.  As it turns out he opened the event which was supposed to be opened by the base commander who was called away at the last moment.

The Woodman Valley Chapel entrance sign.

The Woodman Valley Chapel Worship Center building.

The Woodman Valley Chapel parking lot as it looks down on Colorado Springs.

The opening statement spoke volumes to my heart and the Coming Home Almost There (CHAT) mission.  Their opening seminar statement was:

 “Welcome to the Bridges to Healing Seminar.  You obviously already have an interest and care deeply about our military - thank you for being here.”  This on the stage screens - Behold, I am the Lord, God of all flesh, is there anything too difficult for me. - Jeremiah 32:27.  “From this seminar, you will appreciate the urgency and needs of our military today, realize existing ministries to be used as a Bridge to Healing and commit to action.”

A very emotional set of videos were presented.  Following was the first massive appearance of tears.  Then a trauma-experienced veteran and his wife spoke about the trials and struggles they went through as he experienced symptoms of PTSD, the subsequent alcohol consumption and the resulting spousal abuse.  They both detailed from their own perspectives the recovery and the support of a very loving spiritual couple who came to their rescue.  Again, there was not dry eye in the house and it took even the event moderator a while to recover without crying with his voice cracking as he tried to speak.  The group took a break and resumed with the morning portion of this seminar.

As the seminar continued they begin addressing urgency and needs of the military. To appreciate the urgency and needs of our military today you need to:

Understand the military culture, language, lifestyle and the military is a significant group of people in our midst.  The cause of urgency in the military involves the understanding of the strain of multiple deployments, unprecedented Guard and Reserve mobilization (52%) and a protracted war.

Understand the trauma of war includes Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and the Combat Trauma Spectrum.

Traumatic brain injury is a physical injury to the brain often caused by one or more concussive events.  Symptoms are at time indistinguishable from those of Post Traumatic Brain Disorder (PTSD) and further neurological testing is warranted for proper diagnosis.  Chronic or severe headaches occur with TBI.

Combat trauma spectrum is defined as a spectrum of behavior observed in those who have been exposed to a traumatic combat-related event which involves actual or threatened death or serious bodily injury to self or others.  This event may cause a range of reactions involving intense fear, panic, helplessness or horror.  It is manifested in physical behavioral, cognitive, emotional and spiritual symptoms, which if untreated can last a lifetime.

Combat trauma is a common response to an abnormal event.  The difference between the categories of the Combat trauma spectrum is based on the intensity and duration of symptoms.  Combat trauma symptoms are also often grouped or clustered into these three categories:

Intrusive Symptoms:  Memories and images of the event intrude into the mind, occurring suddenly without obvious cause and accompanied by intense emotions.  Often these memories are so vivid as to have sufferer believe they have returned to the scene and the traumatic event is reoccurring.

Avoidance Symptoms:  Avoiding events, people or circumstances which might produce memories of the traumatic event.  May also have feelings of numbness (having no emotions) and withdraw from others while not being able to express appropriate emotion or affection to loved ones.

Arousal Symptoms:  Hyper-vigilant; always on alert; jumpy; irritable; angry; concentration and memory problems; always on guard.

Secondary Trauma:  Defined as the natural consequent behavior and emotions resulting from knowing about the traumatizing event experienced by another.  The stress results from helping or wanting to help the traumatized or suffering person.  Every combat trauma sufferer affects up to (10) ten other people. 

There are four basic areas of need of our military and their families.  They are relationships (community); care and support (practical assistance); pastoral care (spiritual); education (life skills).  Practical assistance timing may include before, during and after deployment.  Pastoral care may include grief and loss counseling; healing for combat trauma; marriage counseling; addressing addiction and substance abuse.  Assisting with life skills education may include marriage, parenting enrichment; financial education and navigating available network of services available to the military.

How to find the military in need in our midst inside and outside the church.  Ask, invite, provide and go where they are!  Ask new members, visitors, and in prayer requests if they are military and in need.  Special invitations on Veterans’ Day; into support groups.  Outside the church – GO WHERE THEY ARE!  VFW, American Legion, homeless shelters.

The keys to relationships with the military and their families are:  Be persistent and consistent; an intention to look for opportunities to help; commit for the long haul.

The keys to communication:  Door openers (helpful to say):  Ask open-ended question.  State:  “I am so glad you are home!” “I have no idea how you feel.”  Door closers (good to avoid saying):  “Did you kill anyone?” “Aren’t you glad you are home?”  “I know how you feel?”

Closing of Morning Bridge to Healing Session:  Realize you have been strategically positioned in this community and divinely prepared to be a “Bridge to Healing.”   Building relationships requires you to be authentic and courageous.

The Bridges to Healing Workshops included “How to use the Combat Trauma Healing Manual in Spiritual Care Groups”, “How to use the When War Comes Home manual in Spiritual Care groups”, and “Combat Trauma – PTSD Counseling Workshop.”

I attended the “Combat Trauma – PTSD Counseling Workshop as presented by Dr. Chris Phillips, Psychologist. Dr. Chris Phillips works part-time at Haven Behavioral Health in Pueblo, CO.  This is a 28 bed inpatient facility.  He is a licensed psychologist specializing in anxiety, trauma, and medical life issues (pain management, cancer, sleep issues, TMJ, etc.).  He maintains a private practice as well. 

Following is the transcription of my notes and may not include all the material presented to this group as it was quite vast:

PTSD is a normal response to an abnormal event – Chronic means something is getting in the way of recovery.  PTSD sufferer gets protective about things that make them think about or re-live the trauma.  This is based on “I want to be safe.”  They can become hyper-vigilant and this can lead to exhaustion.  They can become hyper-aroused (increased startle response) causes avoidance. In this state they may drink, work, fight too much and often have multiple deployments.  Recovery requires learning how to detach the traumatic event(s) from normal living situations.  PTSD can trigger hormones that actually shut the brain down.  There is an old saying “Neurons that fire together, wire together.”  To rewire cognitions they need support. Be clear - Support is NOT treatment.  Treatment is provided by professionals and may be required to provide healing.

Drugs treats symptoms; they are not curative. Duration and intensity are components of PTSD.  Also, a possible component is prior history of abuse.  All can factor into PTSD.  

Neuro-plasticity means new thought.  Plasticity can work both ways.  PTSD can go away and come back.  It goes beyond numbing and PTSD sufferer may feel like they don’t have a soul.  With Cognitive Processing Therapy the PTSD sufferer can take the traumatic experience(s) and learn to release the emotions that accompanied the trauma event(s).  PTSD and TBI can appear similar.  PTSD and TBI do show great rates of recovery.  The brain is very resilient.

 

Chronic PTSD sufferers are very successful with avoidance.  Therapy would include prevention of avoidance/escape.  It can be similar sometimes to basic sports psychology – “you are just ramped up.”  If everyone is the bad guy something is getting in the way of effective functioning.  Traumatic event, in successful therapy, is remembered differently to preserve original beliefs and assumptions.

Chronic PTSD sufferers over accommodate.  Overall beliefs and assumptions about self and the world change too much following traumatic event and are no longer accurate.  Trust is a spectrum – some people do deserve trust.

Cognitive Processing Therapy: There are five areas at the crux of the matter: safety, intimacy, power/control, self-soothing and esteem (worth of others and myself).  

A loss involving a physical injury can cause complications to PTSD. The physically injured and PTSD sufferer need more compassion; their biggest problem is self-esteem issues; they don’t have the same power/controls.

My closing comments to the Bridges to Healing morning seminar group are: 

It was a wonderful event at the Woodman Valley Chapel hosted and the Military Ministry sponsored.  They served to establish the dire need of supporting the military through the ministerial community.

I must take some exception in a rather narrow definition of a religious community as a Christ-centered faith.  They made mention of the Jewish/Muslim community.  They did not seem to embrace what I consider the totality of any religious community.  Some apparent prejudice was displayed through some comments made against some specific religious faiths as questions were answered by members of the Question and Answer panel.

 

Further, it was with difficulty that I witnessed a male based review of military needs alluding only briefly to females in combat and their unique struggles.  The female soldiers issues include but are not limited to rape, single parenthood and a higher divorce rate than male soldiers.  What little concession was made occurred only as a brief nod by the panel when orally admonished by members of the audience for not addressing the female soldiers’ issues.