Bonding Through Service: Veteran Peers
When U.S. Coast Guard Veteran Chief Warrant Officer 2 Colin Smith made the choice to retire in 2020, he went through one of the toughest times in his life. With the help of the Wilmington VA Medical Centers Peer Support Program in southern New Jersey, he found hope.
Smith retired after a command at sea with 11 years of sea time and six major deployments as a Boatswain in the Counter Drug and Alien Migrant Interdiction Operations.
“The decision to retire was one of the hardest to make in my life, as the Coast Guard had been a part of me my entire life,” said Smith. “I didn’t have a retirement ceremony due to COVID and the culmination of all this led me to a deep depression. I was constantly fighting with my family and my wife. On my 41st birthday I found myself at the lowest I had ever been. I finally reached out to the veteran crisis line.”
This is when Ian Brady, a peer specialist from the Cape May County Community Based Outpatient Clinic Peer Support Program, gave him a call.
“He wouldn't let me off the phone until I agreed to meet him for lunch,” said Smith. “I begrudgingly did, and when I got there, I found a fellow Veteran that had a similar story that just wanted to talk. He didn't pry, he didn't try to compare, he was just there to listen and to tell me that there is a way to make it better, that it does get better.”
After this talk, Smith was still not convinced about the benefits of the Peer Support Program. Ian Brady called him once a week, but he still didn’t think things were going to get better. Not until he ended up in the hospital for a repeated back injury did he start to understand the magnitude of the program.
“Ian came to see me,” said Smith. “I'll never forget how happy I was to see him and how my wife gave him a huge hug and thanked him for coming as she could see my mood instantly change. It was nice that somebody actually cared to reach out. From that point on I was all in. Ian and I would chat twice a week, meet twice a month, and anything I needed from the VA, medications, appointments, etc. he would dive right on it.”
The Peer Suicide Prevention program uses crisis intervention, Veteran Peer Specialist support, advocacy, and education, and comradery events to improve each Veteran’s unique mental health needs within the program.
“They got us out of the house and out of our heads with fishing trips, golf lessons, frisbee golf, cornhole tournaments, and whatever else they could think of as an activity to get us together,” said Smith. “The goal was to get away from what we were dealing with. It meant the world to me and put me in a better place. I could see that life could really get better. It really can.”
Everyone in the Peer Support Program has a goal they set at the start of the program. Once the goal is met, they graduate. Through the mentorship and support of Supervisory Peer Specialist Patrick Carney and Peer Specialist Ian Brady, Smith’s goal for graduating the Peer Support Program was to emulate them.
“I wanted to be like them,” said Smith. “They are family men and have community-oriented love for Veterans that goes above and beyond. Seeing how successful they were after everything they’ve been through was inspiring.”
After Smith’s graduation from the Peer Support Program in November 2023, he plans to pursue a career in the VA like his mentors.
“I am so thankful for this group of guys, that I applied to the VA in hopes of getting a job where I can make at least a quarter of the difference these guys have made in my life into another Veterans,” said Smith.
Today Smith and Brady still go to lunch, talk, and get together for events. They have forged a lifelong friendship through the Peer Support Program.
If you are a Veteran in crisis, call 988, then press 1.