A first of its kind effort to help struggling veterans kicked off this week in Tomah. A regional summit brought together health care workers, law enforcement, and nonprofit leaders.
Jake Mason served in the Marines in the mid ’90s. Following his service, he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, struggled with addiction, and ended up homeless. It took him more than a decade to realize there were services to help him get clean at the Tomah branch of the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Now, Mason works for the Tomah VA helping homeless veterans find jobs. He says many veterans still don’t realize what services are out there.
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“I think they’re still at the point [where] a lot of them are still using substances, couch surfing between friends and family, ” he said. “It seems like it takes a while before they either came in or realized that the option was out there… and some just don’t want to.”
Mason and the dozens of people who attended the Tomah VA Mental Health/Homeless Summit want to change that. Officials from many groups got together for the first time to figure out how to better work together.
Cindi Groskreutz is the Healthcare for Homeless Veterans Coordinator at the Tomah VA. She says the VA and community agencies rely on each other to find health care, homes, and jobs for veterans.
Groskreutz says she made new connections at the summit that will help struggling veterans down the line, but ultimately, it’s up to the individual veterans themselves. “The veteran has to buy into this process.. Change does not happen because other people want you to do it. It has to happen because the individual wants to do it.”
Attendees say they’ll be meeting on a more regular basis.
- VA Homeless Help: http://www.va.gov/homeless/nationalcallcenter.asp
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