Corps Of Recovery Discovery Transitional Housing for Homeless Veterans

MEET THE STAFF PART 3

2009-12-02T12:05:00.000-08:00

JIMMY D.

Sorry for the break in continuity here but the holidays and all. Anyway I would like to introduce our newest member of the staff who is actually still a resident of CORD, works as a house manager and is employed by us 40 hrs. a week as our Procurement/Maintenance man. He doesn't usually slow down enough to get a picture of and that was another reason for the gap between posts. His bio in his own words follows:

Hi, my name is Jimmy D. I am a 53 year old Marine veteran located in Walla Walla WA. I've been involved with alcohol & drugs for most of my life. Once out of the Corps, I was OK for a few years and then ran around the country as a homeless transient (tramp) but never gave up as a working alcoholic. I never let go of being a Marine, but with no Corps to depend on and not letting go of my best friend alcohol, I pretty well screwed up my bloody life. During that time making many geographical changes, a poor wee soul I was! Drugs and alcohol had control of my whole being!! The Devil I was...Each day was just to survive, year after year. I lost everything I really loved. My reality became...insanity. After one more move with trouble at my heels and the loss of my Mom in 2008, I landed in Yakima WA. My world had come to an end, I needed God! I needed HELP. I found the Vet's center in Yakima and with their help I made it to the treatment center at the Walla Walla VAMC. After my stay there, I was introduced to CORD. There I was given the chance and opportunity to begin a new life clean and sober, with people that have been through what I've experienced and worse. They have helped and guided me. As I sit and write this small but large in my heart biography I am truly greatful as a Marine and a Man for a new beginning clean and sober!! Sincerely--Jimmy

Well folks that's the current crew except for the Executive Director who is even harder to chase down than Jimmy. I'll keep trying. Thanksgiving went well for our residents and staff and everyone is looking forward to Christmas at this time. I hope to have some good news regarding our "art studio", shop and screen printing set up soon so stay tuned. We have a screen printing outfit to make shirts for our program and I will hopefully have a picture of an example next blog--later--

MEET THE STAFF PART 2

2009-11-18T00:29:00.000-08:00

"THE BOSS"

Rhonda L. is the Program Manager for CORD and handles a case load as well. She was a single mother of 3 (I'm not supposed to mention her age) who worked her way through school to become a certified chemical dependency counselor, a job she held locally for over 8 years. For over 15 years, she has been married to a wonderful man, a Viet Nam combat veteran (me). After moves to Idaho and Oregon where she worked in social services for the Salvation Army, Rhonda and family returned to Walla Walla where she took the helm of the CORD program 5 years ago. As Program Manager and Case Manager combined, she manages to keep fairly busy. A close working relationship with the VAMC and community services has been a priority for Rhonda to ensure our residents get the best care and support available. Rhonda's credo is "treat our people like people and meet them where they're at, we have all experienced low points in our lives, and we all have the resiliency to bounce back."

Terry D. is our newest Case Manager (part-time). I asked him to write a short bio which follows:

"I am a 49 year old Navy veteran who grew up in Yakima WA. I became involved with drugs in the Navy and used off and on untill 2003 when I was introduced to crack cocaine and crystal meth. At that time I became a full blown addict. I ended up homeless and running the streets of Yakima. I went to the Vet Center there and they helped me get into treatment at the VA in Walla Walla. I continued Substance Abuse Treatment in White City OR where I spent 10 months. I traveled back to Walla Walla to take a job as house manger at the VA hospital in the Drug/Alcohol treatment wing. From there I was accepted into CORD where I stayed for year and a half. During that time, I was accepted into Walla Walla Community College. I am hoping to finish up my classes this June and have an AA degree with a focus on Drugs and Alcohol. I started working for CORD in September of this year. My life has changed in many positive ways and I am very grateful for all the help along the way.

MEET THE STAFF

2009-11-16T17:11:00.000-08:00

As I mentioned in an earlier blog, I would like to take a bit of time and introduce the staff at CORD. As you have already been sort of introduced in the previous blog to Mike and Tim I'll start with them. Mike is our senior case manager and fills in when "the boss" is gone. He has proven to be not only a very reliable "assistant program manager" when called upon, but an excellent mediator in the day to day workings of the program. I asked each of the staff to give me a short bio to post and Mike submitted this to me.

"I am a 53 year old Viet Nam era veteran who has used drugs and alcohol the majority of my adult life. I became addicted to Meth in 1990 after a very messy divorce. I became homeless in 1994. I spent close to 11 years on the streets or in jail. I accumulated a large criminal record during those years. In 2005, a Superior Court Judge gave me one last chance to change my life. I came to the Walla Walla V.A. hospital to enter drug/alcohol treatment. After completing treatment I entered the CORD program. While in the program I learned a great deal about myself and what I needed to change to become a functional person again. I graduated from CORD in '07. I started to Case Manage for CORD that same year and have been working there since. I love doing what I do. Although very stressful at times, it's very rewarding as well. It's never to late to change your life..."

Our other intrepid traveler is Tim D. Tim does duty as a Case Manager, Community Relations Contact person and Recreation Coordinator. As the program grows, so does Tim's job, especially in the field of community relations. In a small community like Walla Walla, we feel it is imperative for CORD to work closely with other agencies to give the best service to our residents and other members of our community. Here's a short bio in his words.

"I am a 42 year old formerly homeless Army veteran. after a long struggle with active addiction and a seemingly never ending cycle of homelessness I finally found my bottom. That was the point in my life I had to throw down the shovel I was digging the hole with. 3 1/2 years later with the help of the V. A. and the CORD transitional housing program for homeless veterans, I am now back on my feet, working in the field as a case manager for the same program that helped get me off the street. I am now married and going to school working toward my goal of a degree in Social Work. A complete and successful turn around. It can be done when people who care come together and make it happen. Life is good!"

This is just a short introduction to two of the key players in our organization. I will be introducing the rest of the team shortly.

THE BELTWAY BOYS

2009-11-12T01:25:00.000-08:00

Mike B., The Hon. Eric Shinseki, Tim D.

Our two case managers Mike and Tim returned from the Homeless Veterans Summit in Washington D.C. this past weekend. The Conference was put on by the US Department of Veterans Affairs and attended by VA employees and per diem providers from across the nation.

Mike and Tim besides having a great time in D.C. brought home with them a wealth of information and contacts that we will be able to use to good effect in the near future. The theme of the conference was "Ending Veteran homelessness in five years". featuring The Secretary of the Veterans Administration, the Hon. Eric Shinseki as keynote speaker. As evident from the picture, Mike and Tim were fortunate enough to meet the Secretary in person. Mike and Tim gave a two hour presentation on our program during which they were able to connect with providers from Florida to Alaska and all places in between with housing capacities from 8 to 400 beds. They both said the break-out sessions were a valuable learning experience on subjects such as the Veterans Justice Outreach program which we feel will be of great value to us. While in Washington, they also had a meeting with a representative of Senator Patty Murray who represents our district here in Washington state and is the first woman to serve on the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee. They had the meeting to express our appreciation for the tireless work the Senator has done for veterans in our state and nation and to invite her to visit our program. All in all, it was a great trip and not only an educational experience but a chance to share what we have learned with other providers. Mike and Tim did an excellent job representing our program and everyone connected with CORD is justly proud of their work.

THE SOUND OF MUSIC

2009-11-09T02:26:00.000-08:00

NEW "JAM" ROOM

As an adjunct to our recreation program we have finally finished our music room. The idea behind it is to help veterans find their "passion", especially disabled veterans who will be hud-vashed into their own residence and living alone. We have had an amazing amount of talent pass through CORD over the years and although there has never been any rules against musical instruments (except those laid down by room-mates) we felt it was time to have a place just for music. We utilized one of the garages in a duplex that had been used for storage (an end garage with no close neighbors) and through labor and time donated by staff and CORD residents are finally getting ready to have our first "Open Mic" jam session this Saturday evening. Equipment has been donated by a staff member with some equipment furnished by CORD. The majority of the equipment we have now however is the property of one of our residents that he has kindly let us use. He is also a talented musician and song writer who has offered to teach guitar and bass to anyone interested. Our plan is to limit the first couple of sessions to CORD residents and alumni of the program to see how popular the idea is and gradually open it up to other folks in the community and eventually maybe "burn" a CD or two. More ideas to come!

Hopefully tomorrow I will be blogging about the trip to Washington D.C. by two of our staff and talk about any ideas they may have brought home from other providers across the country.

ROLLIN' ON THE RIVER

2009-11-08T03:02:00.000-08:00

RECREATION

We feel that one of the key components of our program is recreation. We were aware from the begining that veterans that had been "out of the loop" so to speak for a period of time had forgotten or never learned to just have fun for no other reason than personal enjoyment. We first tried to organize our recreation for large groups to get "more bang for the buck". These outings were as varied as we could make them. Activities such as volleyball, camping, fishing, white water rafting and sporting events proved to be popular. As years passed however, we noticed that as we had more and more veterans diagnosed with PTSD, there was a marked lack of participation by this particular group. A year and a half ago we arranged a smaller group outing consisting of two staff and eight current and past CORD residents. All had been diagnosed with PTSD plus most had other "issues" medical, recovery from substance abuse etc. including the two staff.

The outing consisted of a 3-night stay in a cabin on the Payette River in Idaho. Staff and residents fished, hung out and did some tubing. We believe an important factor in this outing was the fact that it was just ten "guys" having a good time. There was no facilitator, no groups or meetings, and no rules other than have a good time. The veterans and staff went as people, not "sick vets", disabled vets", "alcoholic/drug addict vets" etc. but just some guys doing guy stuff. In the time since the trip, only two of the residents have "relapsed" and one of them is sober again. More interesting though is the fact that eight out of the ten have since taken significant trips of their own or with friends or family. These included 2 traveling to southern Mexico, 2 traveling to Hawaii (one won a trip and another flew over to meet his son who is in the Navy and was able to sail back to San Diego on the aircraft carrier his son is stationed on), one veteran traveled to the east coast to visit family and another to California to a family reunion. We weren't sure the Idaho trip had anything to do with this outcome (still aren't), but the anecdotal evidence and talking to the veterans has caused us to change our focus to smaller group outings and even one staff-one resident if the situation calls for it. Financially it has been more difficult but donations from local service organizations have greatly helped. We take suggestions and ideas from the residents themselves and try to accomodate them when possible. Resident response has been overwhelmingly positive.

The point of my long rambling story is to point out that we belive we are in a unique position with our program to try different approaches to different problems. We have had our share of bad ideas, foul ups and financial failures but that's how we learn.

Overall we feel that the recreation part of our program is extremely important in helping the veteran discover a part of life that has lain long dormant. The socializing and exercise are an added bonus.--Later.

HOW WE ROLL

2009-11-07T23:49:00.000-08:00

VAN & SHOP

Now a little bit about how we operate. The CORD program has a Program Manager/Case Manager, 2 full time Case Managers, a part time Case Manager and a Procurement/Maintenance man. The Program Manager is answerable to the Executive Director of our parent agency, who is answerable to our Board of Directors.

All the Case Managers and the Procurement/Maintenance man are veterans and former CORD residents. The Program Manager is not a veteran, but has the good fortune to be married to a veteran (me) and has 8 years experience as a registered chemical dependency counselor prior to coming to CORD. The Case Managers all have a copy of their personal mission statement which follows:

MISSION STATEMENT FOR CASE MANAGERS

My obligation as a case manager in the CORD program is to treat every person in the program with the equality and respect all individual men and women who have served our country deserve. It is my responsibility to communicate with each person individually and to understand their abilities and goals in order to do my best to guide them toward a meaningful and positive lifestyle while helping them integrate into the community. I will use honesty and integrety when dealing with the public and veterans to ensure the best possible outcome for each individual veteran.

Our Case Managers take this mission statement very seriously.

CORD is not a treatment facility but a transitonal housing program. That being said, we are very fortunate to have in our town a VA medical center staffed with professionals in all areas; Medical, Psychiatric and Drug/Alchohol treatment which plays a critical role in helping CORD veterans.

After a referral from the VA and an interview with CORD staff, if a veteran is accepted into the program, they are immediately asked to complete a Person Centered Recovery Plan which is updated regularly. This plan is written to include information about what areas the veteran would like to work on (legal, living skills employment, filing for disability etc.) and of course future goals and plans while living in CORD and later moving into the community.

The key to the plan is that it is the individual veteran's own plan, not a cookie cutter-one size fits all plan that everyone is expected to follow to the letter. Plans, goals and circumstances change apace and with regular updating we can follow their progress and help them achieve as much as they can while with us. The picture above is of one of our vans and our "shop" of which I will write more later.

Besides the shop, I will be discussing our recreation, music and volunteer components. I will also be blogging about things we have tried that did and didn't work as well as future plans. Our two full time Case Managers have just returned from the VA Homeless Summit in Washington D.C. and are full of enthusiasm, new contacts and ideas--GREAT! I will also introduce the staff individually. Later folks.

A LITTLE HISTORY

2009-11-05T11:13:00.000-08:00

Before I begin posting on the mechanics of our program, I think a short history is in order. This VA per diem program is a culmination of a cooperative effort among the Walla Walla Veterans Administration Medical Center, The Walla Walla Housing Authority and Valley Residential Services (CORDs parent agency) to handle the case management. Valley Residential Services is a non-profit organization that has been in business locally for 25 years and deals primarily with caregiving services to people with develpmental disabilities. The VA approached us to do the case management of the CORD program due to our reputation in the community and our success with a pilot program managing a transitional program for the chronically mentally ill.

The Washington State Department of Veterans Affairs and several local service organizations, in particular the American Legion Auxilary 12th District have also played an important role as contributing partners.

The program has grown from 23 beds on our opening day in Dec. of 1997 to a capacity for 44 veterans today. The above photo is of our newest residence which opened in 2007.

In future posts, I will be discussing how our program works, our successes, failures and plans for the future and encourage anyone interested to contribute to the discussion.

What we do and why we have a blog

2009-11-04T05:52:00.000-08:00

As stated in the banner, the CORD program is a transitional housing per diem program funded by the Veterans Administration to help homeless veterans integrate into the community with the skills necessary to permanently end their homeless lifestyle.

The purpose of this blog is to connect with other transitional housing programs, veteran or civilian as well as individuals for an exchange of ideas to help promote the permanent change from homeless to active community member.