For these women veterans, a home to call their own

Gulf War veteran Tinamarie Polverari greeted a fellow resident at Jackie K's House for homeless women veterans. (Gretchen Ertl for The Boston Globe)

For these women veterans, a home to call their own
By Brian MacQuarrie
Globe Staff / October 31, 2009
NORTHAMPTON - An oversized stuffed tiger lies across a bedspread in a brightly colored room where Tinamarie Polverari has draped a New York Yankees cap on a lampshade.

She feels safe here.

Polverari, a 38-year-old Army veteran, lives in a duplex cottage run by the nonprofit group Soldier On. A victim of repeated rapes during the Gulf War, she returned in 1993 to an unhinged civilian life of heroin, crack cocaine, and desperate homelessness.

She is among a growing legion of female veterans who have turned to the street after a failed transition from military to civilian life. At a time when women are assuming an ever-expanding role in the armed forces, the number of homeless female veterans is rising.

Women last year accounted for an estimated 5 percent of all homeless veterans, or 6,500 former servicewomen, a figure that is 67 percent higher than the number reported in 2004, according to the US Department of Veterans Affairs. By contrast, the total number of homeless veterans decreased by 33 percent in the same period, to 131,000 from 195,000.
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For these women veterans, a home to call their own

PTSD Ghosts and Goblins you need to treat

from actionflickchick

As the kids get dressed up to play the part of scary characters or creatures of their dreams, Halloween night fills them with dreams of getting more candy than their friends. Sugar highs are sure to follow over the next few days. This night has not always been about costumes and candy. It was a night to acknowledge souls.

We love horror movies. Most TV stations will be playing some kind of Halloween theme program. We love to be frightened because we know none of it is real. As soon as the program is over, we can rest assured our lives are not in danger and it is safe to take a shower without worrying about someone coming to hack us to death.

Imagine being frightened everyday of your life from the replays of your life playing over and over again in your mind.

Imagine not knowing where you are when you wake up in the middle of the night from such a vivid nightmare, you ended up smelling, hearing, seeing and feeling it all as if it were in real time.

That's what PTSD does. It takes you back to where your worst nightmares came true. It takes you back to the horrors you saw. Your blood pressure rises as your heart pumps harder. Your muscles tense. Your eyes move wildly as fear of the next thing takes over. You sweat as listen carefully for the softest sound. You know there is not a harmless friends trying to scare you but there are ghosts following you from your past.
PTSD Ghosts and Goblins you need to treat

Is This Any Way to Treat Our Heroes

While it is a huge problem for the veterans with families trying to find a way to get the help they need, I would like you to read this story and then ask yourself one very simple question. What about the veterans with no families at all? When you think about that then you can understand how we have so many veterans homeless, dropping out of the system, avoiding the VA and losing all hope.

Is This Any Way to Treat Our Heroes?


Joan E. Dowlin
Freelance musician (French hornist) from the Philadelphia, PA area.
Posted: October 30, 2009 06:00 PM



A close family friend's son recently returned from Afghanistan where he had been working as a government contractor for the US war there. He is a Veteran Marine who joined in 2002 right after terrorists flew airplanes into the World Trade Center buildings on 9/11/01. He unselfishly wanted to serve his country and defend us from these attacks.

He was readily accepted by the United States Marine Corp. and his fellow soldiers, having been voted #1 Honor Man of his boot camp even though he was at least 10 years older than most of his peers. He worked his way up to Staff Sergeant and was so well liked by his battalion that they resisted sending him out to the battlefield. They didn't want to lose him.

But go to war he did with tours in both Iraq and Afghanistan. He served proudly with many honors and awards until 2006 when he started contract work in Afghanistan.



Read more at: Is This Any Way to Treat Our Heroes

Open house set Nov. 3 at Vet Center in Fort Myers

Open house set Nov. 3 at Vet Center in Fort Myers

In advance of Veterans Day, the Fort Myers Vet Center today has issued an invitation to all veterans and the public to attend an Open House on Tuesday, November 3. The open house will take place from 1 to 4 p.m. at 4110 Center Pointe Drive Suite 204, Fort Myers.

"There is a growing need for readjustment counseling/ services to existing and newly returning combat veterans and their families.The VA is committed to providing these services and high-quality outreach to all combat veterans, said John Peptis, team leader.

The Fort Myers Vet Center has been a driving force in this effort, he said.

"We serve five counties, Lee, Glades, Charlotte, Hendry,and Collier. We have veterans driving from those counties to our location for treatment. So this is an outreach effort for veterans from all combat eras.

"The community-based Veteran Centers are a key component of VA's mental health program, providing veterans with mental health screening and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) counseling, along with help for family members dealing with bereavement and loved ones with PTSD," he said.

Studies by the U.S. Medicine Institute of Health have reported that Vet Centers have proven a best practice model in fostering peer-to-peer relationships. The best way to overcome concerns about stigmatization is through person-to-person contact with a trained professional, Peptis said.

The Open House will not only be a chance to meet the Vet Center staff, but it will also be an opportunity to learn more about the Vet Center program.

Light refreshments will be served.An award ceremony will take place at 2 p.m.

For more information contact Peptis at 239-479-4401 of 239-479-4401. Martha Vaugh, the officemanager can also help you with any questions.
Open house set Nov. 3 at Vet Center in Fort Myers

Life with PTSD can be better

Serenity Prayer
The Serenity Prayer goes like this --
God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with Him
Forever in the next. Amen.

http://www.allaboutprayer.org/serenity-prayer.htm

"That I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with Him"

We cannot stop all wars although we wish we could.
We cannot stop all soldiers from dying, but we can do our best to make sure they have all they need including the best reason to do it, the best plan to carry it out and the best goal to reach as soon as possible so that we save more lives than we lose.
We cannot heal all wounds nor can we replace limbs but we can make sure the wounded are treated with the best medical care as fast as possible.
We cannot restore sight to the blind but we can provide them with what they need to live lives as close to what they had before as possible.
We cannot erase all burn tissue but we can try to.
We cannot prevent all veterans from going homeless but we can make sure there are a lot fewer who do end up with no place to sleep.
We cannot prevent every suicide but we can make sure there are fewer of them.
We cannot prevent every attempted suicide but we can give them fewer reasons to want to try to end their lives.
We cannot stop every family from falling apart but we can reduce the numbers of families feeling so hopeless they cannot find reasons to try to work things out.
We cannot prevent Post Traumatic Stress Disorder but we can heal it. No, not cure it, but heal it.

Above all we cannot heal their souls unless we search our own once and for all to try all we can do to really honor the lives they were willing to risk for us.

O God and Heavenly Father,
Grant to us the serenity of mind to accept that which cannot be changed;courage to change that which can be changed, and wisdom to know the one from the other, through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serenity_Prayer

We can make their lives better but first we need to know what it is so that we can stop blaming them and start helping them.

This video is about what needs to be changed.

Wounded and Waiting

Posted to Great Americans by NamGuardianAngel on September 14, 2009

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