GWFW Huntsville 

Below are some highlights from April 2026 outreach to veterans in Huntsville, AL: 

 

I participated in a five-day suicide prevention training designed for military chaplains. We went over eight key intervention skills to employ when having a conversation with a service member experiencing suicidal ideation. These skills are “suicide story & conceptualization”, “building hope”, “safety planning”, “emotional regulation”, “mobilizing social support”, “problem solving”, “coping strategies”, and “professional self-care”. We read through learning modules and conducted eight pastoral counseling sessions with live actors to implement the skills taught in the training.

Those simulated counseling sessions with live actors, rehearsing real-world scenarios, was the most beneficial aspect of the training. I am certainly more equipped to walk alongside service members and veterans in crisis contemplating suicide.

Our outreach to veterans in homelessness at the Downtown Rescue Mission is in the trenches with veterans seeking to overcome addiction. We started with three veterans and one  of them remains. Two left the recovery program when they received some money and wanted to indulge their addiction one more time. One of those veterans has not been heard of since and the other is waiting to be allowed back in the program. The remaining Army veteran appears to be growing through his time in the program and deeper reflection on God’s Word. In our support group, we are reading through the Book of James and the instruction regarding anger and control of speech has jumped off the page to this veteran. He genuinely seems to be recognizing his old harmful reactions to people and situations with a determination to live as the man God is calling him to be.

Our other outreach efforts through the Veteran Support Group at First Stop (another service organization for the homeless) have also put us in touch with some truly vulnerable and emotionally fragile veterans this month. One that revealed he was homeless vanished from sight and we later learned he was arrested for trespassing. I hope to see him again soon and encourage him. I met two other new veterans to our Veteran Support effort this month. Both are Army veterans. The first has struggled with substance abuse and is in the process of securing housing through Priority Veterans. He needed help selecting an apartment to apply for housing, and so I helped him call around and then went with him to apply at a local apartment complex. He is hard of hearing because of his time in artillery with the Army, but can not get assistance because he was OTH discharged (“Other Than Honorable”). He is an example of a veteran who served, but his service did not end on good terms though he still has lingering challenges because of his service. The other veteran was a woman veteran who opened up concerning trauma she had experienced in her life and how the military was a way to escape her difficult childhood. She struggles with mental health issues, but was clearly glad to have someone to listen and show her compassion. 

These partnerships with local organizations is certainly giving GWFW Huntsville an opportunity to bring hope and compassion to veterans in need of extra concern and care.