PFC Joseph Dwyer Peer to Peer Program

New Program To Help Veterans With PTSD
WWNY news
Story Published: Sep 19, 2012
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is often called an invisible wound of war.

All too often it goes untreated.

"PTSD is a part of our community and a lot soldiers end up getting out of the military and staying in our community," said Tim Ruetten, mental health services coordinator for the Jefferson County Office of Community Services.

Thanks to a new program the Jefferson County Office of Community Services is working to launch this fall, veterans in the north country will be getting a new tool to help in healing.

"Other veterans who have experienced those symptoms themselves and resolved them would be there to help other newly discharged veterans or veterans who are experiencing those symptoms too, you know, get through that process," said Roger Ambrose, director of the Jefferson County Office of Community Services.

It's called the PFC Joseph Dwyer Peer to Peer Program.

It's named for a combat medic who struggled for years with the symptoms of PTSD before dying from a drug overdose in 2008.
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PTSD PROGRAM FOR JEFFERSON COUNTY VETS TO LAUNCH IN NOVEMBER
Posted by Patty Ritchie
Tuesday, September 11th, 2012
RELATED ISSUES: Health, Mental Health, Military, Military Affairs, Troops, Veterans

Senator Ritchie Secures Funds for Program Named to Honor “9-11 Vet”

A peer-support program for returning veterans suffering with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), made possible through a grant secured by State Senator Patty Ritchie, is coming to Jefferson County this November.

The PFC Joseph Dwyer Peer Support Program for Veterans is named for an Army soldier from New York who enlisted following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and who took his own life after returning home from Iraq.

Dwyer, an Army medic with the 3rd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, was famously featured in a widely seen photo carrying a 4-year-old Iraqi boy to safety during a raging battle in the early months of the war. While in Iraq, his unit was engaged in nearly daily gun battles for three weeks.

“9-11 reminds us all of the sacrifices that our soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines make every day to protect our freedom,” said Senator Ritchie. “That’s why it’s especially important that we make sure that, when they come home, they receive the care they need to cope with the transition.”

The peer support program gives veterans a chance to interact with others who may be experiencing the same emotions and challenges caused by stress from combat and wartime service.

“Soldiers with PTSD are casualties of war, and this program gives suffering veterans someone to lean on, who may have been through the same hardships,” Senator Ritchie said.

Recent studies have shown that between 6 percent and 12.5 percent of returning Iraq and Afghanistan veterans suffer from PTSD, and 62 percent have received some level of mental health care after coming home.

Persons suffering from PTSD are six times more likely to commit suicide.

Senator Ritchie, whose district includes the largest US military post east of the Mississippi River; Senator Lee Zeldin, a combat veteran and captain in the US Army Reserves, and Senator Roy McDonald, a Vietnam War veteran, jointly secured funding in this year’s state budget for the program.

Programs in four counties—Jefferson, Rensselaer, Saratoga and Suffolk—are each eligible to receive up to $200,000 in state budget funds.

Locally, the program will be administered by the Jefferson County Community Services, which is seeking proposals from providers who wish to operate the program.

Interested agencies can obtain more information or an application by emailing Roger Ambrose, director of Jefferson County Community Services at rogera@co.jefferson.ny.us. Applications must be submitted by October 15th, as the program is expected to be in operation by November 15th.

Here is his story

Spc. Joseph Patrick Dwyer dies after PTSD struggle