No. 16 Vol. 11
www.mypaperonline.com
November 2018
Organization Offers Hope And Help To Veterans Navigating After War
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By Jillian Rissberg hey had a front row seat to the horrors of combat and now they have an ally right here at home. Community Hope in Parsippany is a safe haven for veterans and their loved ones to overcome mental illness, addiction, homelessness and poverty. It’s the largest nonprofit serving homeless veterans and families in and around New Jersey. “We’ve been providing housing and support services for as many as 1,500 to 1,600 veterans and their family members annually,” says Julia Bey Ahmet, chief development officer. Community Hope shares on its website some of the stories of veterans they have connected with and helped in various ways. To protect the privacy of its clients, only first names have been used in this article. One veteran, Ruben went into the service right out of high school and after four years, received an honorable medical discharge, walking with the aid of a cane and struggling with depression and PTSD after seeing combat in Afghanistan. “The military breaks you down to build you up and works for what you are doing in wartime but once you are back in the real world, it’s confusing,” the 25-yearold shares on the website. “The infantry doesn’t train you well for the job market.” Ruben calls being homeless a “very dehumanizing factor.” After a suicide attempt and stint in a VA program, Ruben entered Hope for Veterans. “I desperately needed to come here and transition back to civilian life,” he says. “As veterans we support each other. We’re a community. It’s an environment where people understand each other.”
Ruben credits his Community Hope case managers with “helping me feel human again,” he shares. “They are not patronizing or false. They are sincere in wanting to help you and there is always an open door.” He is focusing on his college art school classes, his medical treatment and gaining his independence. “I understand that I have to take my time here so I don’t return, so I make it on my own,” he states. Ahmet says their commitment to carry out the mission in which Community Hope was founded in 1985 remains — and their residential “Hope for Veterans” programs provide a refuge for more than 160 a day in their recovery. The programs are open to non-veterans as well. Four New Jersey counties have
housing and support services for people with serious mental illness — and 15 New Jersey counties (Bergen, Burlington, Essex, Hudson, Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris, Ocean, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex, Union and Warren) for homeless veterans and their families. “This is really, really close to my heart, in the work and in the organization, as well I have family members with serious mental illness so that’s sort of the third piece,” says Carmine Deo, chief operating officer. “Being here and being connected to Community Hope is really a lifelong thing for me and being named CEO is even better.” Ahmet says creating and building their fundraising program has been tremendously rewarding, and it has enabled them to develop new programs and extend their continued on page 2