{"id":141442,"date":"2024-04-01T18:30:00","date_gmt":"2024-04-01T18:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=141442"},"modified":"2024-04-01T19:30:29","modified_gmt":"2024-04-01T19:30:29","slug":"unpacking-ricks-journey-ending-hoarding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=141442","title":{"rendered":"Unpacking Rick\u2019s journey: Ending hoarding"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Rick Tomme spent over two decades serving his country in the Air Force. It was a life he dedicated himself to, a life filled with discipline, camaraderie and purpose. But even in the structured life of a military career, hoarding was consuming him.<\/p>\n<p>Like many service members, Tomme moved frequently, accumulating a lot of personal items along the way. Unlike others, he kept everything he ever owned, becoming a hoarder.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Vet-with-his-best-friend_r1-2.jpg\"><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Veteran Tomme and his dog Shadow <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cHoarding is having so many things that managing the clutter becomes difficult, making it almost impossible to let go of items,\u201d said Armintia Alcorn, professional counselor with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.va.gov\/north-texas-health-care\/\">North Texas VA<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>After consulting with his primary care provider, Tomme was referred to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.va.gov\/san-francisco-health-care\/programs\/psychosocial-rehabilitation-and-recovery-center-prrc-0\/\">Psychosocial Rehabilitation and Recovery Center (PRRC)<\/a>, a unique outreach program aiding Veterans challenged with serious mental illness and severe functional impairment.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI found myself unable to part with the items no matter how insignificant. When it was time to go to my next duty station, I\u2019d call the movers, they\u2019d come in, box everything up and ship it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>North Texas VA has designed classes and activities promoting independence for Veterans like Tomme. These services are delivered to about 258 Veterans quarterly with an average program duration of two years, but Veterans can remain longer, if necessary.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs of 2023, Texas has the largest Veteran population of any state at over 1,543,160. Much of that population is concentrated in North Texas,\u201d said North Texas VA executive director Jason Cave. \u201cThis designation underscores the growing need for mental health services for our Veterans.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The road to recovery<\/h2>\n<p>\u201cI received valuable advice from the counselors who never pushed me. I was reluctant at first, but deep down I knew they had my best interest at heart,\u201d said Tomme, who successfully cleaned out a trailer full of items he once couldn\u2019t part with and now has space just for him and his necessities. \u201cLiving in the country is wonderful. I\u2019m looking forward to taking this trailer on the road and exploring more of it with my dog Shadow.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For more information or if not sure of the type of help needed visit\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.va.gov\/health-care\/health-needs-conditions\/mental-health\/\">VA Mental Health Services | Veterans Affairs<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Rick Tomme spent over two decades serving his country in the Air Force. It was a life he dedicated himself to, a life filled with discipline, camaraderie and purpose. But even in the structured life of a military career, hoarding was consuming him. Like many service members, Tomme moved frequently, accumulating a lot of personal [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":141444,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,1046],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-141442","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","category-psychosocial-rehabilitation-and-recovery-center"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141442","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=141442"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141442\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":141448,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141442\/revisions\/141448"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/141444"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=141442"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=141442"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=141442"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}