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Friday, January 21, 2022
The Spokesman-Review
VETERANS CHRONICLE
No veteran stands alone
Spokane Veterans Forum works with VET Court to support struggling veterans
By Mike Casey
SPOKANE VETERANS FORUM
In a busy Veteran’s Enhanced Treatment (VET) Court in Spokane, the defendant – a veteran – stood before the judge. The judge asked her for a progress report on her probation. A year ago, the defendant pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge. She was sentenced to two years' probation. She also agreed to attend the monthly Spokane Veterans Forum (SVF) for the next year, knowing that if she graduated, her probation would be reduced to one year. Today was her graduation day. Her sentence was completed; she had paid her debt to society and was free to march into full upstanding citizenship. With her veteran volunteer mentor standing beside her, she told the judge, and the other SVF defendants in the courtroom, that after her discharge – after what she’d seen and done and experienced – she had some trouble adjusting to civilian life. She candidly admitted that she had engaged in behavior out of her character, including the misdemeanor. She told the entire courtroom that because of her frequent contact in the past year with her own personal mentor, who is also a veteran, and her monthly attendance at SVF, she had learned a lot about herself and how to adjust. Her learning was quickly possible, she told the courtroom, because she and her mentor could speak the same lingo from their common military experiences, including both the bad stuff that happens as well as the recall of discipline and character. Her mentor had helped her get herself straight, she said. She proudly concluded “I am very thankful for this Veteran’s Court and Forum and I promise I will be a mentor. It’s my personal duty to give back to the
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Magistrate John A. Sampson, III, left, presents a certificate of completion to Darryl Woods during the Jacksonville 4th Judicial Circuit Veterans Treatment Court Graduation Ceremony, on May 6, 2015, in Jacksonville, Florida. program that gave me a second chance. I made it. Thank you to my mentor and thank you to everyone working in this program.” Next on the docket, another defendant, with his volunteer mentor standing at his side, told a similar story. He said that
the monthly SVF meetings at the National Guard Readiness Center in Spokane had really helped him during a troublesome readjustment to civilian and family life. He told everyone that the camaraderie and friendship with dozens of other veterans and
mentors, the presence of many social and veteran service organizations and resources, and the shared “chow hall” meal at dinnertime were just what he needed. He added that the two hour-long classes by community, business and university experts on topics like PTSD,
finance, psychology, and veterans telling their own “coming home” story, were always practical, helpful, and inspiring. He finished his statement with, “It is with great humility that I express my deepest See FORUM, PAGE 7
