Believing in Better Days Ahead
The future is bright for Army Veteran Mario Reyes. After years of struggling with addiction, he is looking forward to the holidays this year with four months of sobriety and a renewed sense of purpose.
Over the summer, Reyes was the first Veteran admitted to Houston VA’s new Domiciliary and this month he was among the first group of Veterans who graduated from the program.
“I am clean and sober and about to get a new home,” Reyes said. “The VA has so many resources. Once I got into the Domiciliary and started being open to it, I was amazed at how things started falling into place. Now I wake up in the morning feeling hopeful about my future.”
When Reyes got out of the military in 2007, he carried invisible scars from his service. After struggling with anxiety and depression, he turned to alcohol as a coping mechanism, which only made things harder.
“I felt lost,” he said. “I just didn’t know how to handle things.”
The turning point for Reyes came when he was hospitalized at the Houston VA and heard about the new Domiciliary that offers Veterans with identified addiction or substance abuse disorders, residential rehabilitation, recovery and health maintenance. Reyes jumped at the chance to participate in the Domiciliary program, where he got sober and started opening up to therapists and meeting other Veterans with similar challenges.
“Our Dom program takes a whole health approach to challenges Veterans may experience, making sure their medical concerns and social needs such as employment and housing are addressed,” said Michael Abraham, director of the Domiciliary. “We house them while providing a whole host of VA wraparound services. It’s amazing how Veterans like Mr. Reyes can benefit from our program and really change their lives.”
33 Veterans have already been enrolled in Houston VA’s new Domiciliary, which is located just a few miles from the main medical center in a beautiful brand-new modern facility. Each Veteran who receives care in the Domiciliary receives an individualized treatment plan, including group and individual therapy. The program offers Veterans not only a therapeutic environment and a safe haven, but also a community of individuals who understand each other’s battles.
Upon his Domiciliary graduation, Reyes has big plans for the future. He hopes to enroll in VA’s Transitional Work Experience Program and is looking forward to moving into his new apartment any day now. He credits his success to the support of the VA staff and his fellow Veterans and plans to stick around to share his story with others as an alumni of the program.
“This program changed my life and made me believe that there are better days ahead,” he said. “I want to make sure other Veterans know there is hope and help out there.”