Shortly after the announcement of a new Veterans Affairs (VA) mobile medical unit coming to the Veterans Memorial Museum in Chehalis on Aug. 3, museum Director Chip Duncan and others specializing in veteran care presented to Lewis County Commissioners seeking about $310,000 to start up a peer counseling center at the museum.
“Probably a question on everybody's mind is, ‘Why in the world does our local museum care about mental health and veterans?’” Duncan said to commissioners Wednesday. “Well, if you know anything about the Veterans Memorial Museum and our founding on paper back in 1995, a physical existence in 1997, it is not just a collection of old artifacts. It is actually to honor and heal our veterans.”
Duncan has been coordinating with Stephanie Lane, the chief workforce development officer for statewide nonprofit Peer Washington, and others. Peer Washington’s mission is to both train peer counselors and to create resource hubs for such treatment.
Lane said the major driving force behind the work was that folks who have been through trauma are more likely to share with others who have similar experiences. By training veterans and first responders in peer counseling, she said, the group helps those trainees who have experienced trauma while creating a network of community members who can help their own peers.
“I do understand the idea of the peer-to-peer,” said Commissioner Lindsey Pollock. “Having been a first responder for some time yet, it's a whole lot easier to sit around in the day room and talk about what you saw than it is to even think about engaging in professional services outside of that.”
Lane said this type of work was already taking place at the museum organically, as many veterans already visit regularly for a cup of coffee and a talk with peers. Adding more resources there would put counseling in “one of the most visible buildings off (Interstate) 5,” Duncan said. Plus, it could offer treatment for veterans who need it before they begin going down the road of self-medication, Lane said.
“We believe that peer support stops recidivism (and) connects people to their community, which is what happens when you get out of jail, when you get out of the military: you are not connected,” Lane said. “And what happens is that we bond with alcohol, we bond with trauma, we bond with negative things because those are our coping mechanisms when we could be bonding with people and when we can be having those positive influences in our lives.”
Lane also talked about the importance of treating post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as “post traumatic stress injury.” As with a broken arm or any other injury, she said, patients can heal with proper care.
With the closure last year of a VA clinic in Chehalis at the Lewis County Mall and a broken promise from the VA Puget Sound to add more care through mobile medical units instead, Commissioner Sean Swope told The Chronicle this project was an important one for increasing veteran services. He also said this was a step in the right direction for the issue of homelessness in Lewis County.
“In our county and our community I think it is very necessary,” Swope said. “I look forward to supporting this.”
Duncan said he wishes he could do more to provide housing or health care for veterans while on the topic of the VA mobile medical unit, but called a peer resource center a “tourniquet” for the current lack of resources.
Commissioner Lee Grose said the challenge of the program was not finding the value, but the funding, and directed the budget office to search for the necessary dollars.
“This very low budget, 310,000-ish can provide mental help throughout our entire county,” Duncan said. “It can provide for a dental bus to be here with a volunteer dentist to provide free dental care. … And the VA can even do that for you at all times. It provides the training center for these certified peer counselors and peer counselors. It provides the ability to just help our community in any way that we can.”
