D.C. center gives homeless veterans some hope

D.C. center gives homeless veterans some hope

By Daniel LeDuc - The Washington Post
Posted : Saturday Jan 19, 2008 16:50:29 EST

WASHINGTON— Calvin Williams left the Marine Corps in 1976. He had served in Southeast Asia and survived a helicopter crash in which his best friend died.

Williams returned to northern Virginia to try his hand at barbering. “Things spiraled out of control: drugs, trouble with the law, in and out of jail, in and out of prison,” he said.

He had stayed with his mother, but soon her patience ran out: “I was on the streets.”

Now Williams, 52, has a roof over his head, a bed for the night, warm meals, drug counseling and job training. “I’ve been given a second chance at life,” he said.

That chance came through Access Housing, operator of the Southeast Veterans Service Center, which accommodates about 50 homeless veterans. The transitional housing center is slated to nearly double in size this week when a new building next door, the Chesapeake Veterans Center, opens with housing for male and female veterans.

The facilities on Chesapeake Avenue, on the Prince George’s County line, are the main transitional housing for vets in the District of Columbia. The first facility was established in 1999 by former council member H.R. Edwards, an Air Force veteran. During his time on the D.C. Council, Edwards was shocked by the number of homeless people he came across who had served in the military. Edwards vowed to help.

“They shouldn’t have to beg for food or a place to sleep,” he said. “We don’t call it a shelter; it’s their home. The intent is to make it as pleasant as possible.”

The center has been home to 700 veterans over the years, and success there begot the new building, which was renovated in autumn.

go here for the rest

http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/01/ap_homelessvets_080119/

I'm beginning to wonder how many of these veterans have been misdiagnosed given the fact there are still a lot of psychologist who know nothing about PTSD. By the facts of what PTSD can lead to and self-medication, a diagnosis of bipolar or schizophrenic or even having obsessive compulsive disorder, could very well be just parts of PTSD. Mood swings, paranoia, self-medication with street drugs and alcohol all can be diagnosed as something else and may be mistreated. Yes, there are some who are addicted to alcohol and drugs, but more with PTSD are addicted to the temporary relief of what they are going through because of PTSD. There are screening preformed by the military to make sure the mentally ill are not admitted into the military. After all they do not want someone who has a mental illness walking around with machine guns and ammo. It would endanger the lives of everyone in the unit.

Let's run down some of the things they do when they have PTSD.

Drinking too much
Using street drugs
Violent outburst
Uncontrollable anger
Mood swings extreme highs and lows
Nightly patrol around the house checking doors and window several times
Short term memory loss and unable to follow directions
Twitches and uncontrolled movements of their body parts and facial muscles
Paranoia that everyone is out to get them
Hearing voices
Hallucinations in flashbacks
Over reaction to sudden movement or loud noises
The list goes on.

Is it possible some of these veterans have been misdiagnosed? That would mean there are a lot more of them then we have thought in previous years. We need to find out because as big of a problem as we think it is right now, we better get it right and know how many we are talking about from past wars.

I wonder what O'Reilly will say about this now?