Many veterans have a hard time transitioning back to civilian life, especially if they faced traumatic events during their time of service. However, some experts now believe that people living in violent neighborhoods, such as those in Chicago, face similar trauma in their daily lives. As such, one organization is trying to bring these two groups together to work through those issues.
In Chicago last year, almost 3,000 people were victimized by gun violence in some way, and the Urban Warriors program is now working to connect teenagers living in the most-affected neighborhoods with veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to a report from National Public Radio. The thinking here is that both will likely need help to mentally process the trauma they've gone through – or continue to experience – and that talking about it can be a major help.
Indeed, the more veterans can do to reach out to anyone or any organization that might be able to help them get some sort of assistance, the better off they'll be. Many groups exist specifically to help veterans in need, and often all former servicemembers need to do is reach out.