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VOCATIONAL REHAB HELPS VETERANS GET BACK ON
TRACK -- "Who better to hire than a vet? This
is
an employer's opportunity to give back."
For more about vocational rehab, use the VA
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Story here...
http://www.jsonline.
com/story/index.aspx?id=671745
Story below:
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Veterans find help getting back on track
Program provides jobs, social services
By FELICIA THOMAS-LYNN
fthomas-lynn@journalsentinel.com
Brenda Tribble joined the military to escape a childhood laden with
physical and mental abuse.
The Vietnam War had ended. She was 18.
"The time I entered, it was the first time they started going coed,"
recalled Tribble, of Milwaukee, who was one of a growing number of women
enlisting in the U.S. Army. She joined in 1979. "I had to get away from
home."
But, her troubles didn't end. Tribble said she and other women in
uniform were repeatedly subjected to sexual misconduct by fellow
soldiers, ranging from harassment to assault.
"I didn't tell anyone. I didn't think anyone would believe me," she
said. "I kept it all inside. I was a private, and these were the people
in authority."
She silenced her pain with a bottle. "I started drinking," said
47-year-old Tribble, who is getting her life back on track after a
decadeslong alcohol and crack cocaine addiction that left her homeless
and destitute.
"I used to live and lived to use. I didn't like the person I was before.
I was miserable," Tribble said.
Tribble, who is now sober, is getting help through Veterans Industry, a
Department of Veterans Affairs vocational rehabilitation program.
The program, which offers compensated work therapy, helps work-ready
veterans who suffer from physical disabilities or mental health problems
find jobs while providing support services.
Stephanie Pulsfus, a vocational rehabilitation counselor at Zablocki
Veterans Affairs Medical Center, said the program has successfully
placed veterans in competitive jobs in industries including health care,
manufacturing, janitorial services, housekeeping, groundskeeping, office
support, warehousing and delivery.
"One of the biggest struggles that we have is finding employers," said
Pulsfus, noting that over 20 prescreened, work-ready veterans are on a
waiting list. "Who better to hire than a vet? This is an employer's
opportunity to give back. They have the work ethic and the ability.
Things may have come up in their lives. Sometimes, they need a second
chance."
Tribble's second chance came last month when she was hired to work in
the medical center's laundry facility, which services the Milwaukee
facility, as well veteran hospitals and satellite centers in Appleton;
Cleveland; Green Bay; and North Chicago, Ill. She has since moved into
her own apartment on the east side and continues to receive mental
health counseling at the medical center and participates in a new female
veterans support group.
"We are doing our best to help these women adjust," said Bertrand
Berger, a clinical psychologist and the center's acute mental health
program manager.
Berger said that center has specialized programs to help women who have
been victims of sexual misconduct cope. "This is a sensitive issue for
the women veterans who are dealing with this."
In 2006, there were 756 restricted sexual assault reports, in which
victims could receive medical care and counseling for assaults without
alerting their chain of command or triggering an investigation,
according to the U.S. Defense Department.
Berger said the center will offer seminars for veterans as part of its
"Living with Hope" Mental Health Awareness Week, with events from
Tuesday through Thursday. There will be mental health fairs on those
days, from 11:45 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., that will provide information for
veterans and their families. The seminars will take place from 11:45
a.m. to 1 p.m., and will include: Care for the Wounded Warrior, Using
Music in Mental Health Recovery and Where Recovery is Happening?
Faces of Hope focuses on Milwaukee metro-area people who need a hand and
the agencies that are helping them. Ideas? Call urban affairs reporter
Felicia Thomas-Lynn at (414) 224-2073, or e-mail
fthomas-lynn@journalsentinel.com.
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Larry Scott --
