No veteran left behind
By Bob Robinson

WINCHESTER, IND – “Only two forces have ever given their lives for us… Jesus Christ for our salvation, and the American Veteran for our freedom.”

This quote is on a brochure The Journey Home is using for fundraising to provide transitional housing to alcohol and chemically addicted veterans, 18 years or older. It is the brain child of Mike Kennedy, Veterans Services Officer for Randolph County. Kennedy often got emotional as he talked about the facility and how The Journey Home is going to make the “impossible” happen on a daily basis…

Help Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) veterans make a transition back into a respected, useful life. At one point, Kennedy talked about Vietnam vets, noting when they came “home” they were spit on; not supported…

“There is still a piece of them that never got home,” Kennedy added. “That’s where the name The Journey Home comes from.”

There are many transitional living facilities in Indiana and Ohio. This will only be the fourth one to be veteran specific.”

The Journey Home will house up to 15 veterans in four rooms. Vets can come from an 8-county area in two states: Mercer, Darke and Preble in Ohio, and Delaware, Jay, Henry, Randolph and Wayne in Indiana.

“All the rooms are one size,” Kennedy noted. When they enter the program they will be one of six in one room. As they move through the program and earn the privilege, they will be moved into a room for four, then a room for three and finally, a room for two.

There will be TV on a limited basis, except when sports events are going on. Kennedy added, however, that the goal of the program is to get vets into a positive routine. They shower each day, get dressed for meals, make their scheduled appointments and keep any other commitments required of them. They will have to attend one meeting a day, AA and hopefully even church. The program is faith-based, non-denominational.

Linda DeHaven, president of The Journey Home Board of Directors, said once a vet is identified with PTSD there is usually alcohol or drugs involved.

“Twenty five percent of that is a physical allergy (addiction); the body craves it,” she said. “The rest is a mental obsession. Before they can come here they have to complete SAART (Substance & Alcohol Abuse Rehabilitation Therapy).”

Those programs are usually six weeks or longer.

“They’re there until they are dried out and have been evaluated. Then they can be released to transitional living,” she added.

The Journey Home is limited to veterans that will be covered by the VA, those with Honorable or Less than Honorable discharges. They also have to complete SAART.

Kennedy said when a vet comes in he has to sign a 6-month commitment… physically sign it.

“They can leave the next day, we won’t stop them. Or they can stay up to two years. Longer on an extension if we have room,” he added.

Today’s veteran is different from the veterans of earlier wars and conflicts, such as WWII and Korea.

“We were attacked. They only had one tour of duty. There were jobs and a strengthening economy when they returned,” Kennedy said. Even Vietnam vets typically only had one tour. Today, it isn’t unusual to have a vet completing two, three or more tours in Iraq or Afghanistan. They come home trained to shoot and maneuver, with no other usable skills.

“Many have lost their family, loved ones, friends, jobs… This just feeds the problem,” DeHaven said. “They bounce around from family to family. Use up their welcome. There are also many who need to get away from homes that are not good for them.”

DeHaven noted everything in The Journey Home has been donated. Refrigerator, bedding, tables, chairs… all donated.

At the same time she said, matter-of-factly, “We need money.”

Their financial goal is $50,000 by the end of the year.

“We think we’ll make it,” DeHaven said, “but we need $100,000 a year to operate.” She noted they are applying for grants and would like to get corporate sponsors at $5,000 each.

For interested individuals, organizations and businesses there will be an open house Nov. 11 at the facility (325 S. Oak St.). Also, Bob Evans in Greenville will donate 15 percent of its sales to anyone presenting its Community Fund flyer Nov. 10-12. For more information call (765) 744-6785.

DeHaven said there will be a paid administrator plus House Parents who live there 24-hours a day. They also need volunteers. Lots of them.

“When they leave here they will be able to return to society as a productive citizen… they will have been treated with dignity and respect,” Kennedy said.

Kennedy, a 20-year veteran himself, said he is available to his veterans Monday through Sunday; at their “beck and call.” He or a volunteer takes them to their scheduled appointments in a van he purchased through donations.

“I make house calls,” he added. “It would take a team of wild horses to drag me out of this job.”

Noting Kennedy with respect, DeHaven said “he is amazing.”

Kennedy had his own words to say about the president of his board… “Linda came up to me and asked, ‘How can I help?’ I took this stack of stuff and gave it to her.”

They both agreed it’s about our veterans and what they have done for us.

“Soldiers don’t leave their wounded comrades behind. I don’t leave my veterans behind,” Kennedy said.

Published courtesy of The Early Bird