{"id":11546,"date":"2023-05-20T20:30:00","date_gmt":"2023-05-20T20:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=11546"},"modified":"2023-05-21T06:48:01","modified_gmt":"2023-05-21T06:48:01","slug":"air-force-veteran-receives-100th-welcome-home-starter-kit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=11546","title":{"rendered":"Air Force Veteran receives 100th Welcome Home Starter Kit"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bay Pines VA provides various resources for Veterans experiencing homelessness with the understanding that each Veteran\u2019s road to recovery is built differently. For Air Force Veteran Kerry Schmid, her path was paved with perseverance, dedication and selflessness.<\/p>\n

In April 2023, the Largo Elks Foundation donated a Welcome Home Starter Kit to Schmid, making her its 100th Veteran to receive assistance with a new beginning.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor the past six years, we\u2019ve been working with staff at Bay Pines VA to make sure previously homeless Veterans receive the essentials anyone would need when moving into a new home,\u201d said Largo Elks Foundation Committee Chairman Robert Behm. \u201cThere are many homeless Veterans in the Tampa Bay area, and it\u2019s really touching to be able to support them in any way we can.\u201d<\/p>\n

Schmid, who has battled with alcoholism since 2008, moved into her own place shortly after graduating from Bay Pines<\/a> VA\u2019s Domiciliary May 1. To help her prepare, the Largo Elks Foundation donated a full bed set, toiletries, household cleaning supplies and more to the former radar air traffic controller.<\/p>\n

\n
<\/a>
Elks milestone donation<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cVA saved my life and I am so grateful.\u201d<\/h2>\n

\u201cI came here with a suitcase,\u201d Schmid said, holding back tears. \u201cSoon I\u2019ll be moving into my own place. Words can\u2019t describe what this means to me. VA saved my life, and I am so grateful for everyone who supported me through my recovery.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Domiciliary is an inpatient treatment program designed to provide state-of-the-art high-quality residential rehabilitation and treatment services for Veterans who live with severe medical conditions, mental illness or addiction. Prior to her stay in the Domiciliary, Schmid was enrolled in the Substance Abuse Treatment Program. Shortly after leaving the program, she relapsed into addiction after encountering a scenario that reignited her PTSD.<\/p>\n

\u201cI used drinking to cope, and just like that I was back on the streets. That went on for a while until one day I called my former case manager and told her, \u2018I need help\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

After a decade and a half of cycling between homelessness, rehab and shelters, Schmid did not want to live that way anymore. During her stay in the Domiciliary, Schmid (in the center wearing a black shirt in the photo above) fully devoted herself to recovery.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf nothing good is coming from my actions, I take a minute.\u201d<\/h2>\n

\u201cAll my life, I\u2019ve been a person who reacts. Now I can stop and think about whether anything good will come from my actions. If the answer is no, then I can sit back and take a minute,\u201d she said. \u201cAnother thing I\u2019ve learned is that being sober does not equal being easy. I\u2019m aware that if I drink now, I will lose everything. The main part of recovery is reintegrating and becoming a productive member of society. That knowledge helps me push past the hurdles.\u201d<\/p>\n

As she looks toward the future, Schmid intends to continue leaning on the tools she\u2019s acquired. In August, she will graduate from a learning institution that\u2019s funded by the\u00a0Veteran Rapid Retraining Assistance Program for Educational Institutions<\/a>. Completing this program will make way for Schmid to have multiple avenues for employment.<\/p>\n

Kerry Schmid would like to pay forward what she\u2019s received by advocating and providing resources for Veterans like herself.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe hardest thing to do when you\u2019re in the pit is to ask for help because you don\u2019t feel like you deserve it. I dug deep to get to the root cause of my drinking and I discovered so much. Today, I can say I love Kerry. I have choices. I have friends who check up on me. I have a place to call home. Today, I feel worthy.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bay Pines VA provides various resources for Veterans experiencing homelessness with the understanding that each Veteran\u2019s road to recovery is built differently. For Air Force Veteran Kerry Schmid, her path was paved with perseverance, dedication and selflessness. In April 2023, the Largo Elks Foundation donated a Welcome Home Starter Kit to Schmid, making her its […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":11548,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,170,308],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11546","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","category-homeless-veterans","category-welcome-home-starter-kit"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11546","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11546"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11546\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11549,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11546\/revisions\/11549"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11548"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11546"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11546"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11546"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}