PTSD Peer to Peer Pilot Program named after PFC. Joseph Dwyer

Peer to Peer Pilot Program Targeted to Assist Veterans Suffering from PTSD and TBI

(Sayville, NY) Senator Lee M. Zeldin (R, C, I- Shirley) announced today that the New York State Senate, Assembly and Governor Andrew Cuomo, approved funding for the PFC Joseph Dwyer Program, a pilot program for four counties, including Suffolk County, to help returning veterans cope with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) by offering a Peer to Peer mentoring program.

Peer support establishes an intervention mechanism and reasonable means to provide assistance to those suffering from PTSD and TBI symptoms. In many instances, peers with the same combat and reintegration issues will benefit from joint participation in the same mentoring program.

PFC Dwyer enlisted in the Army within days of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. He served with courage and honor in Iraq, but returned home with PTSD.

On June 28, 2008, this illness took his life, leaving behind his wife, Matina, and their two year old daughter, Meagan. Senator Zeldin, who campaigned for election in 2010, then promised he would spearhead the creation of the PFC Joseph Dwyer Program. Immediately after taking office in 2011, Zeldin formed the Blue Ribbon John P. Jennings Veterans’ Advisory Panel to assist him in studying and crafting the framework of the PFC Joseph Dwyer Program.

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