Homeless Veteran "Army Strong, Saved His Own Foot!

A Homeless Veteran’s Struggle to Survive on the Streets of Sacramento
FOX 40 News
BY KARMA DICKERSON
JANUARY 5, 2017

SACRAMENTO -- He told doctors he operated on himself on the streets of Sacramento.

This homeless veteran's struggle to survive is amazing and heartbreaking. For years, he was on his own, but two homeless programs came together and helped save his life.

Army Strong, to Greg Metcalf, it’s not just a recruiting slogan.

“I did what I had to do when it was time for me to do it ,” said Metcalf.

It’s the frame of mind that led him to self-treat a life-threatening wound while living on the street rather than let a doctor amputate his foot.

According to what Metcalf later told Veteran Administration doctors, in 2012 he developed gangrene in his left foot from exposure to the cold. When emergency room doctors told him they’d need to take his foot, Greg left the hospital.

“Then took himself behind a dumpster, sterilized a pocket knife with a lit flame and went about using his knowledge he got from his military training about how to treat wounds," said Doctor Michael Yanuck.

Two years later Greg told his story to Doctor Yanuck with the VA’s Homeless outreach program -- Homeless Patient Aligned Care Team.
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Veterans want real policy, not just politics

Veterans want real policy, not just politics, from this election
By Jim Sanders
Sacramento Bee
Published: Saturday, Oct. 13, 2012

Veterans are emerging as a significant political force this year because of their numbers, sacrifice, public popularity and the government's need to plan for serving troops returning from the Middle East as fighting winds down. California, for example, expects to see its 2 million veterans swell by 30,000 to 35,000 annually over the next few years.

Times have changed since Paul Cook returned from Vietnam in 1968.

To avoid inciting someone to spit or throw something, Cook was not allowed that year to wear his soldier's garb in the nation's capital.

The Yucca Valley Republican, a state assemblyman, is now a candidate for Congress, touting his military service and proudly wearing his full Marine Corps uniform on his campaign website.
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Sacramento Stand Down left homeless veterans with 11 hour wait

Homeless, Disabled Veterans Frustrated by Change in Charity's Policy
Marin Austin
FOX40 News
September 21, 2012
SACRAMENTO

Dozens of homeless Sacramento-area veterans had to wait 11 hours before being let in to a charity event Friday.

"I usually show my military ID. They have my name on the list, and they let me in," disabled U.S. Navy Veteran Dwyane Smith said, explaining how it worked at previous Sacramento Stand Down events.

But this year, "they're not there for me right now, they're turning me away." said Smith.

Smith isn’t the only one. Dozens of veterans spent the day waiting outside of Camp Pollock Friday. This year, Sacramento Stand Down required veterans to preregister for their annual event. For a lot of veterans, that's a lot easier said than done.

"Most of the vets don't have phones or addresses; they don't get this information,” said Leon Robinson, a disabled veteran.
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Mental Health Court budget cut is counterproductive

Not only is it counterproductive, it is an injustice. The mental health community has worked tirelessly to be able to raise awareness of the difference between someone who has an impaired mental state and those who have criminal intent. Aside from getting average citizens into treatment instead of jail, it has also been raising awareness of the unique circumstances when combat veterans come home wounded by PTSD and end up in trouble. This is one of the last things that should be cut from a budget, especially one that is facing tight financial times. It will only increase the numbers of incarcerated individuals and many of them don't belong there.

Mental Health Court makes strides, but funds drying up
By M.S. Enkoji - menkoji@sacbee.com
Published 12:00 am PDT Monday, October 6, 2008
Story appeared in OUR REGION section, Page B1
Sacramento Bee - CA, USA


Every week, Superior Court Judge Jaime Román finds a reason among a pile of stuffed manila folders to lead applause in his courtroom.

Both sides of the courtroom join him with genuine joy.

"You are incredibly positive," Román said to a woman standing before him who beamed at his praise. She's a criminal – a mentally ill one.


But she's garnering high praise from a judge, a prosecutor and a probation officer.

Sacramento County's Mental Health Court is diverting mentally ill, habitual, nonviolent offenders away from a cycle that spins them through jail and back on the street.

For a year to 18 months, with intense supervision, classes, medical treatment, unannounced monitoring, housing and transportation assistance – and regular check-ins with Román – they rebuild their lives and stay out of jail.

Mental health court is saving millions in criminal justice costs, as it has in Santa Clara County, supporters say. And it could save much more.

"We're taking people who, through no fault of their own, can't function as a regular part of society and we're helping them," said Siena Riffia, a Sacramento County public defender who works in Mental Health Court.

But just as the new court is hitting stride with stable graduates in school and on the job, the new state budget has virtually gutted the whole effort.

"There is no money," Román said to a handful of stunned clients in his courtroom last week.
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http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/1290767.html