Three U.S. Army veterans and one former Marine graduated last week from The Pathway Home, a treatment program for returning veterans based at the Veterans Home of California in Yountville.
Soldiers Jeryl Adams, Jacob Stambaugh and Anthony Collins and Marine Noe Acosta were recognized for completing the program before about 150 people gathered Friday for the graduation ceremonies at Yountville Community Center.
The Pathway Home is a residential treatment program for veterans returning from Afghanistan or Iraq who have mental health issues, such as PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) or TBI (traumatic brain injury).
An estimated one in three returning veterans experiences some degree of PTSD or TBI, according to national statistics released at the graduation ceremonies.
"We have a major public health problem -- it affects not only the veterans but also their families, the schools, their children," program executive director Fred Gusman told the crowd. "It's a community problem -- not a problem just for Veteran's Affairs."
He said The Pathway Home was "designed to embrace community" and includes sessions on mindfulness and brotherhood with the local Rotary Club. Artwork and poems done by the veterans to express their emotions were displayed at the ceremonies.
More than 380 veterans have been treated since The Pathway Home was launched in January 2008. Officials are seeking long-term funding since a private grant that supported the program for the first three years has run out.
Other donations have since kept it going but The Pathway Home does not receive state or federal funding.
For more information, contact Mike Horak, Development Director, at 707-948-3028 or mike.horak@thepathwayhome.org, or visit www.thepathwayhome.org.
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