Nonprofit organization works to connect central Indiana veterans with support systems

Editor's note: If you or someone you know may be considering suicide, contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988, or the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741.

A nonprofit organization works to connect central Indiana veterans with support systems. WFYI’s Taylor Bennett spoke with Indiana military veterans Jessica Gerig, Lisa Wilkin and Abby Pequignot with Indy Warrior Partnership, about the challenges of reentering civilian life and services available to help.

Taylor Bennett:  Jessica, after serving your country, you returned home to Indiana to begin the transition to civilian life. As is the case for many veterans, this transition was difficult. Can you share some of your challenges that you faced.

Jessica Gerig:  I was a computer programmer in the Air Force. I got out and went to nursing school. I had mental health issues from my time in the military. And I didn't want to claim my benefits  because I was a nurse and I was taking care of our veterans, I even worked at the VA.

And so I waited for 10 years before I applied for my benefits. And then it got harder and harder to work. And my mental health kept declining, and I ended up quitting my job. And then I ended up getting a divorce. And then I ended up homeless. And I was lost and had no idea what to do or who to contact. And believe it or not, I got lucky and tried to kill myself. And the VA stepped in and gave me a lot of resources to get back on my feet.

Taylor Bennett:   Abby is the Community Coordinator for the Indy Warrior Partnership. You experienced stories like this all the time from veterans, how do you help?

Abby Pequignot: Yeah, so we have this really holistic approach that was kind of cornered by our overreaching organization, America's Warrior Partership, where your partnership where you essentially have a you have a pie, right, and you have all these slices, and the idea is to feel fulfilled in every single slice.

So housing, education, benefits, spirituality, personal health, mental health, you know, all of these pie slices go together. And in that pie, I have a list of every organization that I know of, and that, you know, other community partners like Lisa know of that bring to light the other veterans and other organizations maybe didn't know about.

So it's really kind of, again, this conduit to where, if you have a question, I have an answer. And if I don't have the answer, I have somebody like Lisa, who probably does have the answer, because she's been doing this and doing an incredible job at it.

Bennett: Lisa, you're an Air Force veteran and a volunteer advocate, you see the need for these types of services and help for veterans.

Lisa Wilkin:  You know, Indy Warrior Partnership coming around a little over a year ago, was important because that's what our nonprofits do. They fill the cracks, and they make those connections. And so having another nonprofit within the state with our large veteran population here in Indiana, helps to make sure that no veteran feels left behind. Because that's the message that we want to send, there's absolutely no reason for a veteran to be suffering in silence because there's assistance available.

It might take some networking and some connections, but we have volunteers and advocates that will make sure that they get the assistance that they need. Um, it might take a little bit of time or be a little harder, you know, work than just a phone call. But veterans serving veterans gets that done. And that's why the Indy Warrior Partnership is important to get the information out and to continue to connect them with other organizations across the state and with other veterans.

Bennett: Well, I guess it's just a matter of getting the word out and letting more veterans know about what's available to them.

Wilkin: Here in Indiana. We have good services. We have an Indiana Department of Veterans Affairs. We have a county veteran's service officers that's required in every county. We have over 5,000 nonprofits in the state that service and work with veterans. There are services available, but our veterans don't know about it.

Bennett:  Thanks to all of you for everything that you're doing. And thank you for your service.

Jessica, Pequignot, Wilkin:   Thank you

Contact WFYI Morning Edition newscaster and reporter Taylor Bennett at tbennett@wfyi.org. Follow on Twitter: @TaylorB2213.