{"id":1640,"date":"2017-01-13T01:37:29","date_gmt":"2017-01-13T01:37:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kjzz2017.nextgenradio.org\/?post_type=project&p=1640"},"modified":"2019-07-24T03:31:39","modified_gmt":"2019-07-24T10:31:39","slug":"how-a-former-addict-found-redemption-among-forgotten-veterans","status":"publish","type":"project","link":"https:\/\/kjzz2017.nextgenradio.org\/project\/how-a-former-addict-found-redemption-among-forgotten-veterans\/","title":{"rendered":"How a former addict found redemption among forgotten veterans"},"content":{"rendered":"

[et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ admin_label=”Section” fullwidth=”on” specialty=”off” transparent_background=”off” allow_player_pause=”off” inner_shadow=”off” parallax=”off” parallax_method=”off” padding_mobile=”off” make_fullwidth=”off” use_custom_width=”off” width_unit=”on” make_equal=”off” use_custom_gutter=”off”][et_pb_fullwidth_image admin_label=”Fullwidth Image” src=”https:\/\/kjzz2017.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/30\/2016\/01\/NPR-placeholder-1920×15.gif” show_in_lightbox=”off” url_new_window=”off” use_overlay=”off” animation=”left” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid” \/][et_pb_fullwidth_image admin_label=”Fullwidth Image” src=”https:\/\/kjzz2017.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/30\/2017\/01\/lt_1_web.jpg” show_in_lightbox=”off” url_new_window=”off” use_overlay=”off” animation=”off” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid” \/][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ admin_label=”section”][et_pb_row admin_label=”Row”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_post_title admin_label=”Post Title” title=”on” meta=”on” author=”on” date=”on” categories=”off” comments=”off” featured_image=”off” featured_placement=”below” parallax_effect=”on” parallax_method=”on” text_orientation=”left” text_color=”dark” text_background=”off” text_bg_color=”rgba(255,255,255,0.9)” module_bg_color=”rgba(255,255,255,0)” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid” \/][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row admin_label=”row”][et_pb_column type=”2_3″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text 1″ background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid” text_text_color=”#000000″]<\/p>\n

Camp Alpha Reborn is easy to miss. Set back off a freeway, near the Salt River, the grounds are hemmed by a chainlink fence. Beyond it stands an imposing sign:<\/p>\n

ARIZONA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION<\/p>\n

STATE PROPERTY<\/p>\n

NO TRESPASSING, NO DUMPING<\/p>\n

VIOLATORS WILL BE PROSECUTED<\/p>\n

According to Michael Lewis Arthur Meyer, who founded this camp for homeless veterans, it\u2019s a reminder of the battle he won just before Christmas, when the Department of Transportation relented on its efforts to boot several dozen veterans living on the barren, garbage-strewn land.<\/p>\n

Supporters of the group flooded Gov. Doug Ducey\u2019s office with calls, leading to a temporary reprieve.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe community legitimizes us \u2014 not the government,\u201d said Meyer.<\/p>\n

The sentiment is typical of the grassroots project he\u2019s been building over the past year and a half: Veterans on Patrol, a group that was born out of Meyer\u2019s concern about veteran suicides. He now oversees three camps, working with volunteers who make sure the roughly 100 men and women living there are fed, sheltered and protected. At night, he and several volunteers bring blankets and food to those living on the streets, and offer to bring veterans to one of the camps.<\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″][et_pb_audio admin_label=”Audio” title=”How a former addict found redemption among forgotten veterans” artist_name=”Liz Tung” background_layout=”dark” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid” image_url=”https:\/\/kjzz2017.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/30\/2017\/01\/lt_4_web.jpg” audio=”https:\/\/kjzz2017.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/30\/2017\/01\/Liz_VeteransOnPatrol_Master.mp3″ album_name=”NextGenRadio” \/][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row admin_label=”Row”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text 2″ background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid” text_text_color=”#000000″]<\/p>\n

\n

The founding of Veterans on Patrol<\/b><\/h3>\n

A former drug addict and dealer with a rap sheet reaching back to childhood, Meyer had retired from most of his vices with the birth of his daughter, instead pouring his energy into activism surrounding veteran suicide awareness.<\/p>\n

It all started, he said, around 2011 with the death of his fishing buddy, an Iraq War veteran, who died in a car wreck.<\/p>\n

“I talked to Chelsea (his wife) and she told me he had been talking about killing himself,\u201d Meyer said.<\/p>\n

Meyer started researching and soon found a Huffington Post article that cited an alarming statistic for veteran suicides: 22 per day. The Veteran\u2019s Administration has published similar statistics.<\/p>\n

That was all it took to transform Meyer into a full-time activist, serving as a grief counselor for the mothers of soldiers who had taken their own lives. He also began doing what he calls \u201cwalkabouts,\u201d in which he took long journeys on foot while holding signs about veteran suicide. On one of his walkabouts, Meyer stumbled upon an encampment of homeless veterans. He decided to embed himself in the community and in the process learned about some of the most urgent issues they face.<\/p>\n

Among them was safety.<\/p>\n

“The first week of every month these guys get checks. Drug dealers steal their checks and Obamaphones (free phones give to the homeless by the government) for burner phones,\u201d he said. AION Recovery’s Experienced Staff<\/a> truly cares for every person on the verge and offers professional help.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row admin_label=”Row”][et_pb_column type=”1_2″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text 3″ background_layout=”dark” text_orientation=”left” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid” header_text_color=”#000000″ text_text_color=”#000000″]<\/p>\n

Meyer\u2019s solution was to create patrols to stop attacks on veterans and to create military-style \u00a0encampments to protect them from drug dealers and other threats.<\/p>\n

Alpha Camp was established in August 2015, followed by Bravo in Tucson, and Delta in Dewey.<\/p>\n

While the camps are open to vulnerable homeless people, they prioritize veterans.<\/p>\n

The camps are run by homeless vets and provide protection and resources that most homeless aren\u2019t able to find on the street, including visits by the VA and other government administrations.<\/p>\n

Most importantly, Meyer said, they provide a sense of belonging.<\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″][et_pb_image admin_label=”Image” src=”https:\/\/kjzz2017.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/30\/2017\/01\/lt_2_web.jpg” alt=”Camp Commander” title_text=”Camp Commander” show_in_lightbox=”on” url_new_window=”off” use_overlay=”on” overlay_icon_color=”#0c71c3″ hover_icon=”%%51%%” animation=”off” sticky=”off” align=”left” force_fullwidth=”off” always_center_on_mobile=”on” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid” \/][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row admin_label=”Row”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text 4″ background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid” text_text_color=”#000000″]<\/p>\n

“I completely disagree with how they have the system set up for homeless vets,\u201d he said. “You can\u2019t take them from being on the streets for 15 years and put them between four walls. They\u2019re not used to that. You think you\u2019re doing them a favor because you\u2019re giving them electricity and a shower. They don\u2019t need that. They need people to care about them. They need that brotherhood that they had when they were over there fighting because that\u2019s the way they were programmed.”<\/p>\n

While Veterans on Patrol works with various government and nonprofit organizations to provide substance abuse counseling, pathways to benefits, and even housing, Meyer remains ambivalent.<\/p>\n

“I have a hard time putting these people in homes because I have no desire to be in one anymore,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Meyer lives everywhere and nowhere \u2014 at the three camps, at the houses of friends and at the new apartments of newly-housed former residents of the camps.<\/p>\n

In most ways, he says, he\u2019s dropped out. He has no bank account, no health insurance, no credit history.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe only way I can get to these veterans is to go through it myself because that\u2019s the only way you can develop the compassion and patience,\u201d he said. “You can\u2019t fix this in a week.”<\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ admin_label=”Section” fullwidth=”on” specialty=”off”][et_pb_fullwidth_image admin_label=”Fullwidth Image” src=”https:\/\/kjzz2017.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/30\/2016\/01\/NPR-placeholder-1920×15.gif” show_in_lightbox=”off” url_new_window=”off” use_overlay=”off” animation=”left” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid” \/][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Camp Alpha Reborn is easy to miss. Set back off a freeway, near the Salt River, the grounds are hemmed by a chainlink fence. Beyond it stands an imposing sign: ARIZONA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION STATE PROPERTY NO TRESPASSING, NO DUMPING VIOLATORS WILL BE PROSECUTED According to Michael Lewis Arthur Meyer, who founded this camp for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":310,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"project_category":[94,90],"project_tag":[],"coauthors":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kjzz2017.nextgenradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/project\/1640"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kjzz2017.nextgenradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/project"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kjzz2017.nextgenradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/project"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjzz2017.nextgenradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/310"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjzz2017.nextgenradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1640"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kjzz2017.nextgenradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/project\/1640\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kjzz2017.nextgenradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1640"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"project_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjzz2017.nextgenradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/project_category?post=1640"},{"taxonomy":"project_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjzz2017.nextgenradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/project_tag?post=1640"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjzz2017.nextgenradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=1640"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}