Veterans' Healthy Living Winter 2015
Stepping Out in Style
Peer Support Specialists, or Peers, often go out into the community to reach out to Veterans to get them into facilities for services. John Riley, Health Systems Specialist said, “One of the Peers came to me and said, ‘I’m having some issues out in the community and I’m not being noticed. Is there something we can do?’” After talking briefly, Riley suggested clothing that would identify them as Peers. He wanted the Peers to be approachable for Veterans, so a uniform style of clothing was opted against.
The next step was the tricky part—funding. John put in a call to central office and explained that he had a pilot project he was working on but needed the funds to kick it off. Central office thought it was a great idea, so the Peers got together, picked out an emblem, and agreed upon options of clothing.
Riley wanted to see how the gear worked in one area before advocating the expansion of the project throughout the VISN. The feedback from the Peers was overwhelmingly positive.Riley received the following correspondence from two Peer Support Specialists:
John,
I want you to know how much the Peer Gear you were able to requisition for the Peers at the Manchester VAMC is helping to spread the word about the Peer program and VA in general. When I travel to homeless shelters and soup kitchens, I’ve always had the logistical challenge of readily identifying myself as a member of the VA. The Peer Gear is a great way for Veterans to instantly recognize me as a member of the Manchester VAMC when conducting outreach. In addition, the Peer Gear helps in my role assisting the Veteran Justice Outreach Officer in court, jails, and prisons. Peer Gear gives me the ability to be immediately recognizable as a member of the VA in a neat, professional manner.
Warm Regards,
Dan Bricker
John,
I found people here at work complementing me on the gear and asking what Peer Support is. Veterans have come up to me to ask questions because they noticed it is a VA shirt. We are sure to wear the shirts at outreach events to all look uniform. The Peer Support logo itself stands out, and people ask about it often.
Shannan Brown
With the success of the pilot project, Riley’s goal it to get the concept out across the VISN and plans to start purchasing the Peer Gear in other locations so that when they leave a facility and go out into the community, they are stepping out in style and will be recognizable and approachable for Veterans.
