The Corpus Christi Vet Center doesn't only provide free counseling services for eligible veterans. It also offers community education and different programs and groups to help meet a veteran's needs.
"Our intent is to help veterans adjust back into the civilian world and really thrive." said Brett Davis, the Director of Corpus Christi Vet Center. "Some of the Vet Centers do yoga, some of the Vet Centers do fishing. So there are a lot of outside clinical group dynamics that the Vet Center offers with the intent on getting veterans out in the communities and reengaging again."
The Vet Center wants to spread the word about its Dungeons and Dragons group. For almost a year, the Corpus Christi Vet Center has served as a hub for veteran gamers. They've been able to get together once a week to play the table top role playing game. Davis got the idea to form this group from his brother. Both of them are United States Marine Corps veterans.
In Dungeons and Dragons, players are in charge of their own story and they can choose their own character to role play. There are a lot of moving parts to the game. However, Davis says people don't have to know how to play to participate. Veterans of all ages are encouraged to join the group. Davis believes this could help former military members engage with their community. He also says it could help veterans heal.
"J.R.R. Tolken wrote the book, Lord of the Rings based on some of his experiences in the military, in the war time. And so there is a little bit of playing out your life story that could be transformative in fantasy." Davis added. "It's separate enough from you, so you're not emotionally triggered but it's connective enough to you so you can have some closure and process through things in your play life. It's very lighthearted, there's a lot of laughing going on when we play the game. It's really just free flowing and easy. It's easy to hang out with people, relax, get out of your head."
The group meets at least once a week in the evenings. People interested in participating can call the Corpus Christi Vet Center at (361) 854-9961.
Eligibility for Vet Center services:
- WAR ZONE VETERANS - All Eras, including:
- WORLD WAR II - 7 Dec 1941 - 31 Dec 1946
- AMERICAN MERCHANT MARINES - in ocean-going service during the period of armed conflict, 7 Dec 1941 - 15 Aug 1945
- KOREAN WAR - 27 June 1950 - 31 Jan 1955
- VIETNAM WAR - 28 Feb 1961 - 7 May 1975
- LEBANON - 25 Aug 1982 - 26 Feb 1984
- GRENADA - 23 Oct 1983 - 21 Nov 1983
- PANAMA - 20 Dec 1989 - 31 Jan 1990
- PERSIAN GULF - 2 Aug 1990 to date signed by law or Presidential Proclamation
- SOMALIA -17 Sep 1992 to date signed b law or Presidential Proclamation
- OPERATIONS JOINT ENDEAVOR, JOINT GUARD, JOINT FORCE - Veterans who participated in one or more of these three successive operations in the former Yugoslavia (Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia, aboard Us Naval vessels operating in the Adriatic Sea, or air spaces above those areas.)
- SEXUAL TRAUMA/HARASSMENT COUNSELING - Veterans of any era who experienced sexual trauma while serving on active duty (gender neutral).
- GLOBAL WAR ON TERRORISM - Veterans who served in military expeditions to combat terrorism on or after September 11, 2001, and before a terminal date yet to be determined (e.g. Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation New Dawn).
- BEREAVEMENT COUNSELING - Counseling and assistance is now being offered to parents, spouses, and children of armed forces personnel who died in service to our country. Also eligible are family members of military reservists and National Guard personnel who die while on active duty.
- Active duty, emergent medical care or mortuaries affairs
- Unmanned Aerial vehicle crew providing support of combat operation
- Family Counseling while Veteran is deployed
Click here to learn more about the Vet Center's services.
More Veterans In Focus stories are available here, along with resources for local veterans.
Contact Veterans In Focus reporter Michelle Lorenzo at michelle.lorenzo@kristv.com
