Church and VA team up to help veterans heal

Church, VA partner to help rural veterans tackle PTSD, other problems
Arkansas Times
by Evin Demirel
December 26, 2013

For some veterans, reintegrating into civilian life is a rocky process. Many suffer from PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), estimated to afflict 400,000 veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts.

Sometimes, depression and even suicide follow (It's estimated 22 veterans commit suicide daily). Some return with brain injuries. Vets in rural areas may have a tougher time getting help. They tend to be uncomfortable contacting mental health care providers, preferring instead to share problems with VA clergy or their church's pastor.

Enter the VA/Clergy Partnership for Rural Veterans, a North Little Rock-based program that aims to reconcile science-and spirituality-based approaches to treating mental illness. It began with a pilot program in El Dorado and has expanded to Russellville, Pine Bluff, Searcy, Mountain Home and Jonesboro. At each site, clergy, representatives of non-profit organizations, veterans and mental health providers meet monthly to discuss ways to help veterans in their area of the state.

Most who take part, such as William Flynn, pastor of Grace Chapel Pentecostal Church in Russellville, are volunteers. Flynn came aboard in 2010 after hearing about the suicide of a local veteran who had returned from Afghanistan. "It's just sickening to think that a person who sacrificed that way would come home and feel that there was no hope for them," Flynn said.
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