Ministries help veterans to adjust to civilian life
When Charles Newnam left his life in the Navy after nearly a decade of leading top secret missions and performing national security operations, he struggled to find balance making the transition to civilian life.
He stayed late at work to avoid troubles at home and turned to alcohol abuse. Newnam’s experience was not unusual. More than a quarter of veterans have a difficult time shifting to civilian life after time in the military, according to the Pew Research Institute.
But there came a day, Newnam said, when he realized he wasn’t the person he wanted to be, and he decided he needed to make a change.
“It came to the point I said, ‘This has got to stop,’” Newnam said.
Newnam, now living in Spring and working as a strategy consultant, sat in front of a gathering of veterans and members of the local business community last week,
sharing his story as part of a panel question and answer session sponsored by the Warriors Refuge, a local nonprofit dedicated to supporting veterans in their post-military transition. On the panel with Newnam was Jeff Presnal, a 25-year Army veteran and a commercial real estate business man in The Woodlands area. In addition to his own experiences in the military, Presnal saw the toll that his son, Ryan’s, three deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan took on him. He even missed the birth of his own son while he was deployed. Ryan survived a number of close calls and saw violence on a daily basis while on deployment. To make things harder, a couple of his Army buddies committed suicide after returning home.
“We got the full gamut of experiences,” Presnal said.
When Ryan turned to his parents to find help dealing with the challenges of post-combat life, Presnal and his wife, Sandra, had the idea to start a ministry to reach out to veterans and their families. The Presnals started Armor of God Military Ministry, meeting at WoodsEdge Community Church, in 2010 as way to give veterans a place where they could come for support.
“One of the biggest things that we find is that (veterans) struggle to figure out who they are,” Presnal said. “That leads to a lot of other stuff that are unhealthy — coping things, band aids. They have an identity in the military that gave them pride and camaraderie and security. It’s a whole culture of its own … We help them walk through that … figure out what life looks like.”
Presnal also partners with Mighty Oaks Warrior Programs, a faith-based, nonprofit that organizes retreats focused on helping veterans deal with posttraumatic stress disorder and adjust to life after combat.
Presnal uses the curriculum from the retreats to work with local veterans who may not be able to take a week off to go to one of the Mighty Oaks retreat lodges. In addition to the programs offered through Armor of God Military Ministry, the Warriors Refuge has hosted a series of group leadership programs, as well as larger events focused on entrepreneurship. Terry Weaver, one of the leaders of the all-volunteer organization, said that the positive response to the programs has grown dramatically since the Warriors Refuge first kicked off in 2013.
More than 400 people have participated in the organization’s events in the last year.
“It’s been phenomenal,” Weaver said. “People have had real breakthroughs.”
Weaver, who is a veteran himself, works as a pastor at the Ark Church in Conroe and helps run the Warriors Refuge programs as a volunteer.
In June, Warriors Refuge will start its next eightweek leadership program, which is space limited and application based.
For people like Newnam, Presnal and Weaver, being involved in military outreach is more than just a volunteer opportunity. It’s about reaching out to reflections of themselves — to their brothers in uniform.
And they have the same message for all veterans and those who know veterans.
“If you’re struggling, ask for help,” Presnal said.
“If you know (a struggling veteran), be the one who helps them get help. Have a heart that’s willing to help them seek it out … ultimately that will make a difference in everyone’s life.”