As part of the Trump administration’s cuts to federal programs, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) recently chose not to renew a contract with Martha’s Vineyard Community Services for veterans counseling and services, potentially forcing dozens of Island veterans to travel off-Island for help with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other injuries.

However, newly-appointed community services chief executive officer Dean Teague said on Thursday that the veterans counseling will continue, regardless of whether or not it’s funded by the feds.

“We have no intentions of ending the program,” said Mr. Teague, a former longtime officer with the U.S. Navy Medical Corps. “We’re going to figure it out.”

After nearly 40 years, the Veterans Affairs office recently declined to renew its contract to reimburse Martha’s Vineyard Community Services for the program’s costs — now about $80,000 annually — when the current fiscal year ends June 30.

“The reason we got the contract was that our veterans were what they worded as ‘beyond a reasonable distance’ for veterans to travel to receive services from the VA,” said longtime MVCS staffer Tom Bennett, a Vietnam war-era vet and licensed counselor who has led the readjustment program since the early 1980s.

About 1,000 veterans live on the Vineyard, he said, with a core group of some two dozen who take part in the weekly group discussion he moderates. The MVCS connection also allows Mr. Bennett to provide individual counseling and referrals to other services for veterans who need them.

Mr. Bennett began his Island counseling work in 1984. — Ray Ewing

“When you bring up trauma you relive it, [so] they needed someone to facilitate and follow up,” Mr. Bennett said.

Mr. Teague, who himself is service-disabled after deployments in Iraq and other conflict zones, agreed.

“Sometimes you don’t talk about things that you did, and then sometimes something happens. Something trips, there’s a smell, there’s a sight, there’s a car accident, and it just sends you back,” he said.

Readjustment counseling offers ways for troubled veterans to cope, Mr. Teague said.

“A program like this actually gives you the ability to reach out... and say, look, I just need somebody to talk to,” he said.

“This program that Tom has been running... is very successful, and he’s got veterans from the Korean War, from the Vietnam War, Persian Gulf War, Iraq, Afghanistan. And you know, each one struggles with their battles,” Mr. Teague said.

Woody Williams of Vineyard Haven, who served with the Marines in Vietnam, co-founded the peer discussion group in the early 1980s after experiencing first-hand the lack of resources for veterans with PTSD.

Enlisting straight out of Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School in 1969, Mr. Williams trained for combat with the French Foreign Legion in the Mediterranean and U.S. forces in Okinawa before heading to Vietnam, where he marked his 20th birthday.

Less than a year later, Mr. Williams was home, but his time in the war left internal scars that led to a psychotic episode of flashbacks one day at South Beach in Edgartown, near the old World War II bunker.

The Island is home to over 1,000 veterans — Ray Ewing

“[Police chief] Tommy Teller and [Sheriff] Huck Look... knowing I just got back from Vietnam, they brought me to the VA nuthouse,” Mr. Williams said, referring to a VA psychiatric ward in Taunton.

After 30 days he was discharged with a diagnosis of severe personality disorder.

“This was before PTSD was recognized [as] a known symptom of being in combat all the time,” said Mr. Williams, who soon left the Vineyard in search of fellow veterans struggling with civilian life.

“We were trained for combat [and] a lot of vets couldn’t deal with civilian society,” he said. “These are people who have experienced trauma that is not average.”

A combat veterans discussion group in Eugene, Ore. became Mr. Williams’s source of strength, and a model he would duplicate when he moved back to the Vineyard to marry Phyllis, now his wife of 42 years.

“I really, really missed that combat veterans group,” Mr. Williams said.

Teaming up with other Island veterans, including fellow ex-Marines Jeff Baker and Cliff Gompert and Army vet Skip Athearn, Mr. Williams also wanted a professional on board, as he’d seen in Oregon.

“It was imperative that we had a psychologist familiar with post traumatic stress disorder [and] I happened to know Tom Bennett from growing up in Edgartown. He was one of my mentors [and] my Little League coach,” Mr. Williams recalled.

“He said ‘Sure, I’ll sit in with you,’... and it just started expanding,” Mr. Williams said.

After joining the group in 1984, Mr. Bennett said he was able to get the VA contract for reimbursement beginning in 1986.

Mr. Teague expressed confidence that Martha’s Vineyard Community Services will be able to replace the federal funding for veterans readjustment counseling.

“We’ve got so many generous people in this community. We’ve already had a couple of them reach out to us to talk about helping us fund it,” he said. “We’re going to continue to do the fundraising like we’re supposed to do, so the program won’t end.”

Mr. Bennett said he and colleague Robert Tankard will continue to provide veterans outreach services through a state contract that has not been canceled.

“We have contact with about 250 of the veterans,” he said. “[Some] don’t need services, but we try to let them know that we’re here to help in any way we can,” Mr. Bennett said.

For more information about the programs, visit mvcommunityservices.org/services/veterans-services/