Agencies help vets get back on track

RALEIGH -- Darrell Wilkes joined the Army at 17 and was shipped off to serve in the first Gulf War.

There he saw starving children, soldiers who had lost limbs and dead bodies.

Now, at age 36, Wilkes, a Florida native, is divorced, homeless and recovering from alcoholism and prescription pill addiction. He's barred from seeing his three children. And he has been diagnosed as bipolar, with post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety disorder.

On Thursday, Wilkes was able to get help at the sixth annual Capital Area Veterans Stand Down, an event that provides services and referrals to veterans who are in severe straits. Nationally, Stand Down is a grass-roots program designed to help the estimated 200,000 homeless veterans "combat" life on the streets.

Raleigh officials said attendance this year jumped from years past, with 300 veterans coming through Thursday. Last year, 175 veterans attended, according to Mike Mescall, program director at Wake County Human Services, an event sponsor.

Other sponsors included the N.C. Employment Security Commission, the Raleigh Vet Center, the Durham VA Medical Center and The Healing Place of Wake County, where Wilkes is a resident.

Wilkes was generally discharged from the military nearly 15 years ago. He worked as a machinist for a while but was laid off. That's when he started drinking again and got addicted to pain pills, he said.

"I was medicating my emotions and playing doctor, which is something I can't do," he said.

The war affected him, Wilkes said.

"They take away your rifle, and you feel powerless, so I turned to prescription pills to give me power," he said. "It's hard to describe [war] unless you experience it."

He's been homeless for about a year, but he quit the pain pills six months ago. Now, he's trying to get his life back on track, he said.

Staff at The Healing Place, a homeless shelter for alcohol- and drug-addicted men and women, suggested Wilkes attend the stand down.

Wilkes wanted to learn how to upgrade his discharge to honorable. Douggy Johnson, director of Wake County Veterans Services and a former Marine who also served in the first Gulf War, walked him through the forms and requirements for the change. Wilkes said he needs a letter of recommendation from a community member, which he plans to work toward.

Wilkes also stopped by the veterans' affordable housing group and the medical tent, where officials gave him the name of a doctor, so he can get reassessed for his PTSD and anxiety disorders. He can't see his children until he is on medications to control the disorders, he said, but he stopped taking all of his drugs when he checked into rehab.

By the end of the day, Wilkes was feeling confident about the help he received. He also won a $20 Visa gift card in a raffle and got a haircut, which he hid under a Healing Place khaki hat.

"It's all good," he said. "This puts vets who aren't from this area in touch with services, and there are a lot of homeless vets."