Treating Mental Health | CLIP | America’s Hope

Tonight on America's Hope, we focus on a very important issue that many people would like to overlook, but it does exist. Mental health. America's Hope starts now. This is America's Hope from our global headquarters in New York City. Here's Kelly Wright. Good evening. Thank you for joining us this hour. We do hope that you're safe and well, taking care of yourself and your family because you matter. Something that matters to you as the leader of your family or as just a family member is the status of your mental well-being. Are you emotionally stable? Do you feel secure? Or do you feel a little down and out? Are you sick and tired of feeling sick and tired and not knowing where to turn? You look to the left, there's no answers. You look to the right, there's no answer. Tonight, we're going to hear from two people who will talk about mental health and how it's impacting so many Americans and how so many Americans are dealing with it silently. Let's get started. Welcome to America's Hope. I'm joined now by a guest. I really want you to meet America because of the things that he's doing to help our veterans, most notably veterans who have been through combat and face untold stories of dealing with the aftermaths of combat fatigue and so many things that our veterans go through. And we're not always paying attention to it. Eric Homan, he served in the United States Air Force for 15 years. And Eric, I suppose after you got out of the Air Force, you remembered what it was like to serve. And you saw what was happening to veterans and people that you had served with. And apparently, you didn't like what was going on in terms of treating them and helping them adjust to their new civilian life. So what did you do in the, in the aftermath of understanding what veterans were facing? Well, thank you for having me. Yes, the when I left the military in 2013, there was the problem with with what I saw was the war was still raging and the VA wasn't prepared to have that many people leave. So mental health, obviously, all the injuries, you know, it was pretty tough to get care. I think they're doing a great job now. They still could use some help, but it's better. And for me as a combat controller, a lot of people don't know what a combat controller is. And when I left in 2013, I would go to these veteran programs or the VA and when I would go tell them that I was that I was hurting. You know, they would look at me with this this look in their face like I've never heard of combat control. I've never heard of the Air Force having special forces. I didn't. So it automatically, I lost that trust in really trying to open up and tell them what was wrong with me. And then a few years later, about 2020, 2021, a good friend of mine committed suicide after, you know, six months after leaving the combat control teams. And I founded the First Air Foundation, which grew out of necessity, I needed to do something to take care of my, my teammates or spouses, and also educate the public about what a combat controller is and what we've done for our country. You were talking about your problems with professionals, and they didn't really respond to you. What was that like? It was very tough. You know, as a combat controller, we get attached to Navy, Army teams, special forces teams, even coalition teams. And then, unfortunately, when we come back, a lot of high profile missions that we've done conducted with those guys, when we come back, we never get credit for it. And, again, we, you know, the ethos of being fire professionals, we combat controllers really stick to that. But the problem is that when we're out in the civilian world, since no one knows who we are, it's hard for them to really understand and know who, what we've done. So it made it even harder to find jobs to try to relate, you know, for a therapist to relate to us to really understand what we've done in combat. A combat controller joins a Green Beret team or Navy SEAL team, and we operate with them. But at the end of that deployment, we all go back to our unit. And those guys have had this, this tight community for, you know, as long as, you know, sometimes years. And for us, every time we join a new team, it's just getting to know, know them, their operations. And what happens is, when we're left alone, and guys get out of the military or the Air Force, they're truly alone, even though we have teammates, it's just, it becomes very tough to find a home again, you know, loss of purpose, loss of camaraderie. And then that's when the demons of war, I think, start to really creep in and take over. And so in losing your friend to the unfortunate demise through suicide, I don't want to take you back through that heartbreak. But at the same time, I'd like you to explain for to the American people, when you see a friend, someone that you served with, and you know, that person to be strong, and you can rely on them. And they're pushed into a situation where there's no one to the left or right or above or below to help them. What were you thinking after you realize that your friend had had taken his life through suicide? Yeah, it's, it's pretty tough. Because Chris Rush was my first supervisor as a combat controller. And I mean, he's a great guy. And I can relate to the pain he was feeling because I'm sure there's people out there that know it's when you're inside that hole, by the time you realize it's a little bit too late, and you're so much pain, and you're so exhausted, and you feel helpless. And, and what's the craziest thing that I can look at my phone, and I have 20 to 30 combat controller friends of mine, even in Green Beret teams, just teammates. And it's so hard to press that button to reach out and say, Hey, I need a little help, or I just need to talk to you. I don't know why we do that. But we do. And when Chris committed suicide, I just kept thinking, I know exactly where he's been, because I've been there. And when I left in 2013, all my teammates were still in the Air Force. And I was kind of the one that that left after after 15 years. And I just needed I needed to do something, you know, instead of complaining about it, or, you know, being a victim, I said, Well, wait, we need to start something, we need to do something for our community. And, you know, that suicide and it's a way out. I know, we hurt people that are left. But I totally understand where this came from. And he was just tired of hurting and, and it breaks my heart that, that, you know, he didn't reach out. But through because of what his actions, I started this, and we've helped a lot of our teammates now, keep guys on this earth and, and their families. So I guess that was his last selfless act. Yeah. And so most notably, I'm sorry. So most notably, out of all of this, out of this tragedy has come this program that you've started the foundation to go out and help people triumph over their trials that they're going through. And, and so like you said, your friends, death is not in vain, where people being helped, because you've been motivated to effectuate some change. Since you launched the foundation, what have you been able to do in terms of bringing health and awareness to the problems that veterans face? Yeah, what we did was, the first thing was, the first year we started, this is the third year. And what we did is I wanted to put it out there to the team guys and let them know, hey, I have this organization that's run by by team guy, I understand what you're going through. I went through it. I was I was in there, you know, during the wartime that combat deployments, I said, Now, we have an extension of our team room, our team room on while you're in the military, or as a combat controller, or team room is, is, for lack of better word, the safe place, you know, everybody would come in from the weekend, talk about their weekends, or we would plan out missions. You know, it was just a great little safe space, I guess, if you will. And when you leave the military, you lose that. So the first their foundation is kind of the extension of the team room, I wanted guys to feel safe and call me up or some people on my board and say, hey, I'm struggling or, and it can be anything, our network can be, you know, we need help paying our bills, or my husband's really struggling, or my wife is really depressed, my son or daughter needs therapy, and we just can't afford it, you know, it's just whatever we can help as a community as a team, to get that help and just farm it out and network. And it has done wonders, you know, it's gotten the ability to get aid fairly quickly, I wanted to be in a proactive organization. Are you finding any resistance?