{"id":290944,"date":"2024-09-29T20:30:00","date_gmt":"2024-09-29T20:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=290944"},"modified":"2024-09-29T22:19:52","modified_gmt":"2024-09-29T22:19:52","slug":"now-serving-hope","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=290944","title":{"rendered":"Now serving: Hope"},"content":{"rendered":"

Army Veteran Lyle Bludell got more than he was expecting when he visited a Houston-area Veteran food pantry this week. He found a little hope. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Associate director Jeremiah Jackson; Dr. Christian Flickinger, VA\u2019s Office of Suicide Prevention; and John Smith, Combined Arms<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

When he arrived, he was sitting in a line of cars, waiting to get some much needed food. That\u2019s when Andre Napier, a social worker at Houston VA, approached him, offering support, resources and encouragement.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAndre came right up to my car window, told me I might be eligible for VA health care and told me about some of what VA has to offer. I\u2019m not the type to be depressed or ask for a handout, but I have to say I have had some pretty dark days since my job was cut.\u00a0It was great to hear about everything that is out there for us Vets,\u201d Bludell shared.<\/p>\n

Napier, a suicide prevention coordinator at Houston VA<\/a>, was at the food pantry as part of a new initiative aimed at connecting vulnerable Veterans with VA\u2019s crisis line and suicide prevention resources. He handed out VA crisis line bags, gun locks and more to Veterans while offering them support and information.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe correlation between food insecurity and Veteran suicide got us thinking about ways we can reach Veterans to share the VA crisis line information and all our VA resources with them,\u201d said Elizabeth Kleeman, Mental Health Care Line special programs coordinator. \u201cBy partnering with Combined Arms, one of our local Veterans Service Organizations that does amazing work combatting Veteran food insecurity, we were able to reach out to hundreds of Veterans at two mobile food pantry events this month. We are thrilled to get these resources and this information in the hands of the Veterans who may need it the most.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jeremiah Jackson, associate director of Houston VA, is pictured above helping load food and water into Veterans cars.<\/p>\n

Bludell plans to come to the Texas City VA Outpatient Clinic and enroll for his first appointment soon. \u201cI have never really needed VA before, but since I lost my insurance, it\u2019s a different story. It\u2019s been very tough the last few months. I even thought about giving up a few times, but then I think about my daughter and granddaughter.\u00a0I\u2019m so grateful for all this help,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can create safe spaces for Veterans to find help, hope and healing.\u201d<\/h2>\n

During September, communities across the country pause to recognize Suicide Prevention Month, a time dedicated to raising awareness and fostering dialogue about this important topic.\u00a0Recognizing the need for a more integrated approach to suicide prevention, Veteran and community organizations in the Houston area are working hard to come together to connect Veterans to vital resources.<\/p>\n

\u201cPrevention often starts with connection, and we want to make sure Veterans are not only fed but also cared for, valued and supported,\u201d said Kleeman. \u201cThis initiative is a crucial step toward creating a safer, more inclusive community where every Veteran knows they are not alone in their struggles.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite his current challenges, Bludell says he is feeling hopeful for the future. \u201cGod works in mysterious ways.\u00a0He led me to this event and I\u2019m leaving with a heart full of gratitude.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Army Veteran Lyle Bludell got more than he was expecting when he visited a Houston-area Veteran food pantry this week. He found a little hope. \u00a0\u00a0 Associate director Jeremiah Jackson; Dr. Christian Flickinger, VA\u2019s Office of Suicide Prevention; and John Smith, Combined Arms When he arrived, he was sitting in a line of cars, waiting […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":290946,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[778,5,1267],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-290944","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-food-pantry","category-health","category-visn-16"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/290944","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=290944"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/290944\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":290950,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/290944\/revisions\/290950"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/290946"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=290944"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=290944"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=290944"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}