Finally Together

1/23/2023

To VILA Continuum of Care Board of Directors & Board Chairman Col. Michael La Belle (ret.)

My name is Jessica Hammond and I am Norbert Hammond’s only daughter and appointed Guardian. My father is a retired Navy Sea Bee and 100% service-connected Vietnam Veteran.

Before coming to Albuquerque, my father lived in a Veterans Home in Clinton, Oklahoma for over a decade. In September 2022, he had a particularly hard month. My father is a diagnosed Paranoid Schizophrenic with Bipolar disorder. He’s suffered from mental illness as fas back as I can remember and has always been on medication to manage them. Due to having too many disruptive episodes in a short period of time, the VA center in Clinton came to the decision that they no longer could care for him. So, they kicked him out. He was transferred to the Oklahoma City Veterans Hospital until he could find placement in another facility.

That Monday, I got a phone call saying he wouldn’t be allowed back at Clinton, and the responsibility to find him a new home fell on me. The IMMENSE amount of stress and pressure felt I cannot describe, and my place of residence is unfortunately not wheelchair accessible whatsoever and he requires A LOT of medical care, much more than I myself can offer him or am even capable of providing for him. I had never had to do anything like this before.

That day I made 30 outgoing calls to all different types of facilities to start the process of finding a place for him. It took me approximately 2 months to finally find a place for him. If I had only gotten a hold of Faye and her wonderful team sooner I could have avoided a lot of headaches. I got Faye’s contact information through a referral from one of the many calls I’d placed. Faye was the ONLY one that bothered calling me back, took the time to listen to me, took interest in my father’s story and his well being, etc. FINALLY, I thought! She invited me to meet her and her wonderful team at the office, and unbeknownst to her, the day we set up that first meeting for was my birthday. I thought to myself what a wonderful birthday gift, the best one I’ve had in a long time. I got the opportunity to tour the house where my dad would be staying and I thought this is going to be great, we get to spend his remaining years together. Well, with his placement done, now came the feat of getting him here from Oklahoma City. The social Worker there let me know that the OKC VA didn’t have the resources or the transportation to transfer my dad.

Again, Saint Faye stepped in and sent her team to go get him, a 9-hour trip each way. I was awaiting my father at the Rogers House for his arrival on the night of Friday, December 2, 2022, and it had been a few years since I had been able to see him due to Covid restrictions. Faye captured the moment on camera, it was beautiful. Now we are finally together.

My dad is having a very hard time with the adjustment, unfortunately. Ms. Faye and her team, the staff at Rogers house, myself, and many others at the VA have tried to accommodate him the best we can. We are currently waiting for an appointment so that he can have a regular PCP and psychiatrist here in Albuquerque. The soonest available appointment is February 27. If he can just hold on and make it until then I believe with the proper medication he will get settled in. He has had a long history of doing these things when he’s not mentally right.

I am very grateful to Ms. Faye and the entire VILA/VALA team for their dedication and assistance, and to the Albuquerque VA for making the referral. Thank you for taking the time to read this.

Sincerely,

Jessica Hammond