Veteran Testimonials
Tim Powers grew up in Box Elder, South Dakota. Tim’s parents were divorced so he bounced around from home to home. As a child, he was constantly in trouble. When Tim was 18 years old he found himself in trouble with the law over a fight with a friend. Consequently, he appeared in front of a judge who gave him a choice: either serve 12 months in the State Penitentiary in Sioux Falls, South Dakota or join the US Army. Tim chose the Army and still feels that it was the right decision.
In the 1990’s Tim and his platoon were deployed to the Kosovo, Bosnia, and Yugoslav war. While there, they were stationed at Camp McGovern, at the conversion where the countries meet. They were there for 6 1⁄2 months on what the military called “Peace Keeping Missions.” In the 187 days that Tim was there, his platoon did 19,000 combat missions or “Peace Keeping Missions.” Only one of the members of Tim’s platoon was killed, but Tim feels “one is still too many for peace missions”.
Some years after returning from the war and ending his 4 years of service in the Army, Tim had a down-fall. He was not taking his medications and had been diagnosed with PTSD along with a bi-polar disorder. Tim, a recent father, decided to see his daughter and left Indiana for Montana by car. Upon arrival in Billings, his car was stolen. Tim found himself homeless, depressed and living in a shelter. After a particularly violent incident, Tim ended up in the psychiatric ward at the local hospital. After some time and with the right medications, Tim was released from the hospital on the condition that he register at the Veterans Hospital at Fort Harrison.
He was given a discharge and a bus ticket that would bring him to Helena. Upon arrival to Helena, Tim found himself living at God’s Love homeless shelter. While at the shelter, he was able to secure a job working at Wendy’s. Over time however, he turned to alcohol once again. As a consequence, he was taken to St. Peter’s Hospital for another stay at the psychiatric ward. A few days later, Tim was introduced to Jackie Burton our program director for the Willis Cruse House. To this day, Tim thanks her for helping him get to where he is today. He states, “Jackie is my biggest mentor.” With her help, Tim was able to reunite with his daughter who he hadn’t seen in three years.
Although Tim was only at the Willis Cruse House for a few months, it impacted him greatly. “I wouldn’t be standing where I am today without the Willis Cruse House.” Today, Tim hopes to get to the point where he can spend more time with his daughter and be successful in his career as a communications contractor. “Two years ago, I wouldn’t have believed it possible.” When asked what he feels can be done to improve the lives of combat veterans returning home, Tim offers, “explain where the help is, [veterans] need to enroll in the VA, and they need someone to explain how important it is to seek out the help. Soldiers need to be prepared; they need to know about pensions and disability. [You] need to stress the importance of getting the word out.”
Tim is currently working for a company in the Portland area. He is happy and proud of where he is, and considers himself to be a successful alumnus of the Willis Cruse House.
Brian was born in Norwich, Connecticut. He served in the US navy from 1983 to 1987. As a young man, like so many others among him, Brian joined the military after attending one year of college, “because I didn’t know what I was doing with my life.” Brian was stationed in Hypha Israel for two years during the Lebanon crisis. “I wasn’t involved in the fight, but we could hear it everywhere around us.”
In the late 1980s Brian was stationed aboard the Elmer Montgomery carrier where his job was to detect Soviet enemy submarines. “If there was an all-out war with the Soviets, we would have been the one of the first ships to be attacked. It was a very stressful job knowing that if we were detected it would be just 30 seconds before it was all over.”
After the military, Brian became homeless as he would continue to be during three stages in his life. He became an alcoholic after his mother’s death in 2005 and his deterioration culminated in prison time between 2008 and 2009. After his release from prison in January of 2009, he considered a good place to start-over. In his research, he found Montana, which at the time had the lowest unemployment rate in the country. He arrived in Missoula in April of 2009 where he rented a room for a while until he ran out of money and found himself homeless once again, this time living at the Poverello Homeless Shelter in Missoula. At the shelter, he met a VA representative who informed him of the Homeless Veteran Programs available. At the end of August of 2009, Brian received a call from the Willis Cruse House in Helena. Brian joined the Willis Cruse house on September 8, 2009. He is currently two and a half years sober and refuses to do anymore “self-medicating.”
“Without the Willis Cruse House, I’d be on the streets, I needed this place, and I’d like to think they needed me.” As a successful alumnus of the Willis Cruse House, Brian is back in school completing a degree in accounting and living on his own.
Jeff is a native Montanan. He joined the military in an effort to straighten out his life and get an education. “At age 22, the military was my home.” After serving his country, Jeff found himself without work, emotional support, or a place to live. He returned to his native Helena, to find a VA too overwhelmed to help him.
Jeff turned to the Willis Cruse House Transitional Living Facility. At the Willis Cruse House he found a well equipped staff of mental health professionals, career development specialists, and a community of fellow veterans he could count on. “The Cruse House offered me the opportunity to volunteer at the Veterans Thrift Store and help out in the community.
With the help of our career placement specialists, Jeff has enrolled at the University of Montana-Helena. He’s working towards a degree in nursing. Jeff dreams of finishing college, starting a family, learning to paint, and visiting new places .
