“THE PROVIDENCE JOURNAL” By Frank Lennon
“The Vet Centers were launched in 1978 by Vietnam vets who felt their needs were not being served by the Veterans Administration of the day. The Vet Centers agreed to come under the VA umbrella, with certain conditions insisted upon by the Vet Centers. The most important condition was that of confidentiality — which is mandated by Congress.
There are about 300 Vet Centers nationwide. They are small, non-medical counseling centers organized to provide veterans a safe haven, a comfortable place to spend time with others who know what it means to have served.”
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“U.S. Marine Justyn Charon awakened from his coma three weeks after his accident.
This makes him more qualified than most to identify with, and potentially support, other veterans who may need help recovering from their own traumas, or the traumas they saw others endure.
Since November 2020, Charon has worked as an outreach program specialist at the Providence Vet Center.
The center, which is actually in Warwick, has a staff of 10 including seven clinicians licensed as social workers — including Director Rochelle Fortin.
There are about 300 Vet Centers nationwide. They are small, non-medical counseling centers organized to provide veterans a safe haven, a comfortable place to spend time with others who know what it means to have served.
The Vet Centers were launched in 1978 by Vietnam vets who felt their needs were not being served by the Veterans Administration of the day. Years later the VA realized the Vet Centers were performing an important service for a significant group of underserved U.S. military veterans. The Vet Centers agreed to come under the VA umbrella, with certain conditions insisted upon by the Vet Centers.
Justyn Charon of the Providence Vet Center
taking veterans fishing with Veteran Angler
Charters out of Point Judith.
Confidentiality is the cornerstone of the Vet Center
The most important condition was that of confidentiality — which is mandated by Congress. The Vet Centers have access to the VA medical records of any of their clients. However the VA cannot access Vet Center records. Unless a veteran gives permission, no DoD agency — such as his or her active duty command, if he is still serving — can access those records. (The only exception is if a life-threatening situation occurs.)
This is the cornerstone of the Vet Center operation and a major key to its success.
As Charon told The Journal, “If for whatever reason a vet doesn’t want to be seen entering or leaving our facility, and he asks to go out through the back window we will accommodate that. That’s who we are and that’s how we operate.“ This is particularly important to active duty soldiers who are concerned that seeking help might affect their operational standing. Vet Centers are thus sometimes able to reach reservists and guardsmen who avoid regular channels for seeking assistance.
The VA website describes Vet Centers as “community-based counseling centers that provide a wide range of social and psychological services, including professional counseling to eligible Veterans, active duty service members, including National Guard and Reserve components, and their families.
“The counseling is designed to help make a successful transition from military to civilian life or after a traumatic event experienced in the military.”
While veterans do have to qualify, eligibility is very broad.
It now includes guardsmen who served as little as one day on state or federal emergency orders, such as for a snowstorm or for COVID response. Eligibility has been recently expanded to include any reservist or guardsman who is actually drilling.
Veterans do not have to be enrolled in VA health care, or have a service-connected disability. Services also do not depend on the type of discharge received.
Counseling, connections, activities
Vet Center services are also available to family members when their participation is deemed critical to the veteran or active-duty service member. “If you consider them family, so do we,” is a Vet Center mantra.
While one-on-one and group counseling provide the core of the services Vet Centers provide, Charon is quick to point out that group activities offer veterans the opportunity to make new social connections, try new things, and build a new support system.
“We offer veterans the opportunity to spend quality time with other veterans. For example, last summer we ran eight deep-sea fishing charters out of Point Judith. We even do adaptive surfing clinics, and surf casting at Salty Brine Beach.
“All our services are totally free. The price of admission is your service.”
In the Art Expression Group, veterans find a non-verbal outlet for their feelings and emotions. Professional artists volunteer their time as instructors, and veterans can paint whatever they like. Their collective output resulted in an exhibit a couple of years ago at the Warwick Public Library. One of the regulars at this session is a World War II veteran of the Battle of Iwo Jima, who turned 98 on Feb. 23.
One program with a waiting list is guitar instruction, sponsored by the national nonprofit Guitars 4 Vets. Thanks to public donations, Guitars 4 Vets provides free instruction, a new guitar and accessory kit in a structured program run by volunteers.
It began in 2007 in Wisconsin, when a guitar instructor helped exorcise the demons of a Vietnam-era Marine by teaching him to play.
As the Guitars 4 Vets website states, “The healing power of music therapy helps soldiers cope. That’s why we provide guitars and a forum to learn how to play.”
Understanding that music’s power is not limited to guitars, the Providence Center is awaiting Health Department approval to launch a harmonica group.
“We are always on the lookout for new, fun and free experiences that will draw veterans in,” Charon continued. Last week, they launched a Dungeons and Dragons fantasy role-playing game group.
The Providence Vet Center attends an adaptive surf clinic with AMP Surf at Matunuck Beach
For those who may have been inspired by the Olympics, veterans have also been invited to participate in an “open house” sponsored by the Ocean State Curling Club on March 13.
Charon would love to launch a mini-survival program to get veterans outdoors, into the sunlight and fresh air. “We would teach them — or reacquaint them with — basic skills such as shelter, making fire, foraging for food, etc. We seek a local sponsor for that program.”
Charon’s first challenge is identifying veterans who need help. His next challenge is convincing them to accept it.
Director Fortin said, “As a Marine veteran himself, he brings experience to easily connect with our Veterans, understand their needs, and assist them to begin their transition after trauma.”
Justyn, who graduated from Cumberland High School in 2004, was a sophomore when 9/11 occurred. He says it affected him deeply. He came from a family with a tradition of military service, especially in the Marine Corps. He enlisted right after graduation.
In 2006, Charon was serving with 1st Battalion, 8th Marines aboard USS Iwo Jima in the Mediterranean during the Israeli Missile Crisis. They headed for Lebanon to assist U.S. nationals, trapped because the conflict had shut down the airports and all major roads.
“We were ashore, training in the Sinai Desert in Jordan …all of a sudden helicopters started showing up…Within 20 minutes we were flying back to the ship to support the evacuation of Americans from Beirut to Cyprus.”
Ironically, Charon survived his deployment unscathed, only to be badly injured in an automobile accident in a peacetime setting.
“Sometimes your life changes in an instant,” said Charon.
After completing his USMC service in an administrative job, he pulled his life together and entered the University of Rhode Island in 2012. Four years later, Justyn was accepted into the Wounded Warrior Fellowship, which provides paid internships in Congressional offices.
He worked for U.S. Rep. James Langevin as a Wounded Warrior Fellow for two years, and two more years as a full-time staff member.
Charon was responsible for several portfolios, including Military/Veterans. He led the Congressman’s Veterans Advisory Committee and his Service Academy Selection Committee.
Charon lives in Warwick with his son Leonidas, named after the Spartan warrior king who commanded the 300 Greeks who died holding off thousands of Persians at the famous battle of Thermopylae.
Fortin concludes, “Justyn is absolutely incredible and has so much energy and compassion for his job… and always goes above and beyond to assist our veterans. He’s an absolute asset to our team!”
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