MONTICELLO, NY — “We wanted to reach out to the homeless community,” said Vet 2 Vet of Sullivan County (V2V) veteran advocate Kevin Coates. “We’ve been talking to them. We have food and gear, all for veterans in need.”

So he, his co-workers at V2V and advocacy group Action Toward Independence (ATI) hosted the first annual Veterans Stand-Down at the Ted Stroebele Center last Saturday.

Not everyone who showed up was homeless. But most were veterans of wars in countries from Korea to Afghanistan. They stopped by looking for someone to talk to, someone who can help, someone who gets it.

A stand-down is when a member of the military can relax after he or she has been alert. Saturday’s event put upwards of 20 veterans’ groups in one place, help given for veterans mostly by veterans. Donated food from area restaurants filled the kitchen.

It was a chance to relax.

“We’re so happy with the turnout,” said ATI director Deborah Worden.

Vet 2 Vet is statewide, but new to Sullivan. It’s a “peer to peer support group. We help them where they are,” said veteran advocate Crystal Brousseau. That often means finding out where a veteran served, because that makes a difference. “World War II vets, Vietnam vets, Iraq and Afghanistan.” She held up a survey form. “This helps us tailor our programs to their needs.”

In Sullivan County the program works closely with ATI. Some veterans come home injured or disabled and others sometimes simply need to lean on one who understands.

Dealing with the system is important. “We help them navigate the VA,” said V2V advocate Ryan Fuller. “A lot of vets don’t understand what they’re entitled to.” Support groups meet regularly [see list of times at www.riverreporter.com] and “If we can’t do it, if we can’t provide it, we know who can.”

And it’s not just about veterans, Worden said. “It’s their family members too. What if a caregiver doesn’t know who to call?” What if the family member needs support? ATI and V2V can help.

It’s hard for a veteran just back from a war, and it can be even harder a while later. “The home you came back to is not the home you left,” Fuller said. “We help people with their transition, we help them navigate through PTSD.”

“PTSD is not a character defect,” Worden said, “it’s about a trauma.”

The peer-led support groups don’t take the place of the people with whom you served. But in some ways they fill the role. Companions who can be trusted, because they get it. “It brings back the connection,” Fuller said.

That came up again and again, the importance of connecting or reconnecting with the life you left behind. You are not the same person. Your family is not the same.

War changes everyone.

There’s so much help available

A returned vet needs a job, and Helmets to Hardhats had a table. Communications coordinator Allie Trenkle talked about what they offered: a connection to union jobs in construction, matching a vet with a given skill set with companies that need the help. “The union works with the veteran, provides training,” she said.

And then there were the service dogs. Gunner and Jack investigated passers-by; even though the dogs weren’t working, they advertised the Vet 2 Vet service dog program. “People with PTSD isolate themselves,” said Brousseau earlier. “The dog gives them something to focus on. They bond with the dog.” And the dog can guide them back to dealing with society again.  

“The more information you have, the better,” said Lenox Okall, a retired Marine who is now an outreach coordinator with the VA. “If you have information, you know what you’re getting into.”

Get help

Vet 2 Vet: 845/794-4228

Action Toward Independence: 845/794-4228, https://www.atitoday.org.

The above sponsored the Veterans Stand-Down. But these groups do tremendous work with veterans too.

BRAVE (Burke Rehabilitation Adaptive Sports for Veterans): 914/597-2488.

Bridge Back to Life: Treats addiction, provides medication-assisted treatment, crisis intervention and psychosocial evaluations. 844/896-BBTL, http://www.bridgebacktolife.com/

Center for Workforce Development, Sullivan County: https://sullivanny.us/Departments/Workforcedevelopment.

Clear Path for Veterans: http://www.clearpath4vets.com/.

Helmets to Hardhats: https://helmetstohardhats.org/.

Legal Services of the Hudson Valley: Provides free legal help. 877/574-8529, https://www.lshv.org.

Sullivan County Veterans Coalition: 845/807-0233, or on Facebook at SCVeteranscoalition.

Sullivan County VFW: https://sullivanny.us/Departments/Veterans/Countyveteransorganizations/VFW

VA, Montrose/Wappingers Falls: 845/831-2000 ext.217721

Vet Center, Middletown: 845/342-9917.

Victory Hill Therapeutic Horsemanship: 845/843-0020, https://victoryhillth.org/.

YIT Foundation: 845/701-9429, https://www.yitfoundation.org/.

The organization has been hiring veterans like Okall for a while now, because, as with V2V, sometimes it takes a person who has been there to really understand.

What sort of health care is the VA mostly providing now? “Mental-health care,” Okall said. “But of course we provide basic and specialist care, long-term care.” Coordinators like Okall will help people with the forms, or peers at V2V will get you through the system.

The important thing is to get started.

Sometimes the need is more fundamental.

Sharon-Toney Finch, founder and CEO at the YIT Foundation, presided over a table of non-perishable food. YIT stands for Yerik Israel Toney, Finch’s son, born prematurely. While the foundation’s main goal is to help families with premature infants, they also help homeless and low-income veterans find food and housing and care.

She understands; Finch is a disabled veteran.

“We hand out food, we hand out coats monthly,” she said. Over 780 veterans in five counties who did not have homes are now housed. And the foundation keeps in touch, helping as needed; people are complicated and solving one problem does not fix them all. “We help with housing, travel, scholarships. We’re 100 percent volunteer.”

“People have this idea that there’s nothing to offer veterans,” said Ginelle Talbert, the director of the VA-affiliated BRAVE program at Burke Rehabilitation Hospital in White Plains. BRAVE helps vets get involved in sports.

Because life is not just going to the doctor or finding a job or dealing with pain internal or external. “We make sure that people get to participate in whatever sports they want to,” she said.

And with help, keep going

The news is filled with war footage once again. News coverage and social media posts from Ukraine, from Poland, from Russia, force us to look.

And people opine on television and online; some of them have never experienced war themselves.

The veterans know war intimately.

For some, this could be a tough time.

“Reach out,” Fuller said. He wants veterans to know, no matter which war they served in. This, he said, is important. “Talk to someone. That’s what we’re here for. You are not alone.”