As
the New Year approaches, more than 150,000 American
troops will not be home to celebrate with family and friends.
Instead, they will be stationed in Iraq, attempting to make
the best of a difficult situation. As they return, most are
already showing the signs of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
(PTSD). We ask you to remember this holiday season that every
veteran we serve at New Directions was once
just like these men and women, fighting for our country. Now,
they are fighting for their lives.
Charles
R. is a combat veteran who volunteered to fight with the elite
Army Rangers in both Afghanistan and Iraq. He was traumatized
deeply by his tour of duty, having been surrounded by death
and destruction for months and eventually watching his best
friend die in a firefight. He came to New Directions
this year, a young man, after it had become painfully
obvious that he was not winning his own fight against Post
Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and alcoholism.
In
July, he went before a judge in Santa Barbara County who would
decide if he would serve time in prison for an offence that
was directly related to his PTSD and alcoholism. He
was not in court alone. He was accompanied by New
Directions' co-founder and COO, John Keaveney, himself
a combat veteran, who had arranged to have an expert in the
field of combat-related PTSD testify to the court of the debilitating
effects of the disorder. Their hope was to use a little known
law to give Charles the second chance he needed.
Penal
Code Section 1170.9 was originally written to address the
issue of defendants suffering from substance abuse and/or
psychological problems as a direct result of military combat
service in Vietnam. Its intended purpose was to allow the
sentencing court the option of committing the defendant to
a federal program, rather than state prison, for the length
of their sentence. Using the testimony of that expert, they
were able to provide the judge with a sentencing alternative
by offering a new interpretation of the law that encompasses
the combat veterans of any war.
Charles
is currently a resident at New Directions,
receiving the treatment he needs. He is being given a second
chance. None of this would have been possible without New
Directions and friends like you.
It
is estimated that on any given night in the county of Los
Angeles 27,000 veterans of the United States
Armed Forces, much like Charles, will go to sleep on sidewalks,
alleys, benches and streets. These men and women fought to
preserve our freedoms, but can't find their own freedom from
homelessness, mental illness and substance abuse. Each year,
New Directions provides food, clothing,
shelter, substance abuse counseling, mental health services,
group and individual therapy, legal services, vocational rehabilitation,
remedial education, hope and support to hundreds of these
homeless men and women. Please join us in fighting
for those who have fought for us .
