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Well, I went in the Air Force on February 14, Valentine's Day, 1974.
And obviously my reason for going in there was to,
my parents were strict and I thought if I got some of that
away from around me and get out on my own,
I could do my own thing.
So, I didn't know any other way, so I just got angry with my mom
one night and went down and joined the military.
and I just wanted to travel the world.
I ended up doing four years at one base. So again I was angry,
because I didn't get to travel, and I got out. And I want to say
that was probably the second worst mistake I ever made in my life.
I got a job at the Post Office, because I had some preference
being a disabled veteran, and I got a job at the post office.
I wasn't doing bad at selling drugs and working, but the first
time I decided to smoke a joint with crack in it
because I had seen a lot of people on drugs.
Crack was this epidemic in the mid 80s
and I was curious; like, how can you hit something one time,
or smoke something one time and be addicted?
I mean, my mentality was I just got out of the military,
I'm strong, it can't be done. I can smoke that thing one time,
I can hit it one time, and don't do it no more.
And just to prove it to myself, I'm going to do it.
So, a couple of friends and myself we was coming from
Fort Myers one day and I told them I said hey man,
I want to take one of these lids and went and got some dope.
I said I'm going take one of these things to try it.
I'm going to do it just this one time and be done with it.
Oh, man it was fifteen years later, or more,
until I finally got a chance to stop.
I came here, that one day I was telling you about.
When I borrowed $4.50 from this lady and I came out here.
I was tired. I remember that morning
feeling like if I continued this way that I don't
think I had another month to live. Either someone would kill
me or I'd die of an overdose or something like that. So, I
decided at the time that I could either live or I could die. So I
want to feel like I chose life, because I came out here. I
didn't actually lay on the floor and ask for help, but that's
when I met the lady, Kim Bridges, she got me into some
after care. I did 90 days of after care, 90 days of treatment
and 90 days of after care.
When Lamont came in
he had been through a number of trials in his life throughout
the years and he had gotten to a point in his life where he was
very tired of going through his life like that. He decided to
make a change and luckily he decided to come into the VA that
day. I was working in the homeless walk-in clinic and when
he came into the office he was tired, but he was willing to
listen. We took a look at everything that hadn't worked in
the past, and in listening to his story about what hadn't
worked we came up together with a plan that may work for him.
Some other options that he hadn't considered, that he
hadn't tried yet, so we referred him to a program in Clearwater
that is a program for homeless Veterans, provides transitional
living while they can work on employment or education. And he
was open to that, he was open to looking at his treatment options
and was willing to engage. And, so being able to listen to him,
find out what was working, what wasn't working and what he
wanted to do at that particular moment in his life was the key
to getting him linked in with those services that
the VA offers.
From there I, literally I was a diabetic and that I hadn't taken
my meds in maybe three years or so. So the first thing I needed
to do was get back with my primary care, which was
Penny Meyers. But I remembered her name but it being three
years you don't know if the lady has moved on or got another
position or if she's still here or what the case may be.
But I put in the consultation. I had a consultation put in
for me and she responded, and she took me on again.
I started seeing Mr. Garner years and years, more
than 10 years ago. He came infrequently back then; he
wasn't taking care of his health. He would come in more
for urgent things, when he was having a problem, and he really
didn't take to heart taking care of his medical chronic
conditions like he should have. But every time he came in we'd
try to focus on it and try to work on it. Then he dropped out
of sight for several years. He came back about three or four
years ago and he was like a new man. He had taken part in the
programs here, the homeless program, the substance abuse
program, he was getting ready to start school. He had a great
positive outlook, he wanted to take care of his health. He was
more focused, he asked about going to the gym, he asked about
losing weight, doing things to help himself. And pretty much
since that time he's been a regular, he follows up, makes
his appointments. He tries to do, goes to the consults, he
tries to go for nutrition counseling, doing things that
will help him be healthier, live a longer better life.
So, I've seen a lot more interest in him that way,
and I think he's a happier, more positive looking guy now.
He has things to look forward to.
he's reconnected with his children, his family. He's a
good story for the VA, he's taken advantage of all the
things they've had to offer and he's run with it.
I was feeling so good,
things were going so great for me, I was getting ready to
get out of the substance abuse program and this after care. I
just had gained so many strides and did so many things well,
and so many good things had happened for me out here
that I decided to thank the people
that had helped me along the way. And I decided to do
it in a letter, and it's a funny thing about this letter.
Because when you're writing a letter,
you generally have to sit down and
think about what you want you're going to write next.
But the stuff that I wrote, and the people that I wrote about,
it was so genuine that it flowed from my heart, through my arm,
through my hand and through a pen.
And I think I wrote this letter in about 15 or 20 minutes,
just thanking the people in my life
and what they had done for me at that time. I started with
Kim Bridges and Jenny Green and Dr. D - Dr. Dorian,
Penny Meyers, and just a host of people.
Stories like Lamont's, where he has,
you know, done very well for himself and followed the
program makes me feel good. And makes me feel good for him.
I know Lamont says that I helped him along with this,
but I tell him he did this all. He's the one that left
my office every day, went home, studied, ate well, exercised,
did the things that he needed to do, went to class.
He had to do it, we were here to help him, but he
had to pick himself up and he had to do it every day.
It's heartwarming, it makes you believe in people again.
that you know, If you give them a chance you can help them.
I've always believed that and he's the living proof of it.
Well, from being, a person with a government job,
and having a lot of money, and making good money.
To selling drugs when I didn't have to.
To becoming my own best customer.
To drinking. To becoming addicted.
To not being able to afford it. To becoming homeless.
To almost having near death experiences. To wanting to live.
To come into the VA and asking for help.
To receiving that help. To now being a successful student
in college, about to get a degree in drug treatment
counseling where I can better help somebody else.
And whether it be one life or one hundred lives,
I'll think I've completed my mission if I can
save somebody because somebody helped me.
I am incredibly proud of Lamont and the changes that he's made
in his life. He has worked very, very hard to make those changes.
And, he's been consistent. He has not given up
at all in this process. And not only is he making wonderful
changes in his life, he's going to start to affect other
people's lives, with him being a substance abuse counselor.
He's going to be able to share his experience and
make an influence on other people who are deciding whether
they are ready to change or not.
And, every time I see him I beam with pride for him.
He's come a long way, he's worked very hard
and he deserves the happiness that he's experiencing.
I don't know about the other VAs around the country
but I would like to say that at the VA at Bay Pines,
I've gotten the best health care that I could ever get.
I mean even from an outside, outside clinic, outside hospital
and this is where I come, this is where I am,
with no complaints and no regrets.
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