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Yountville, California - June 13, 2007 - Following receipt of a major private grant this week, the Veterans Home of California-Yountville announced the launch of “The Pathway Home,” a new treatment and counseling program to assist veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. The Pathway Home program will be managed as an independent program on the Veterans Home’s grounds in Yountville as a project of Tides Center in San Francisco, with oversight by the California Department of Veterans Affairs.
According to Veterans Home Administrator Marcella McCormack, the Yountville Veterans Home is uniquely positioned to host this program. “This Home has been a great resource for veterans of every conflict since the Spanish-American and Civil Wars, and many of our staff and veterans are excited about being able to do our part to assist today’s heroes,” she said. “We hope this will become a model program that will help link the excellent work being done by the military services and the US Department of Veterans Affairs with additional resources and community assistance at the State and local level.” The $5.6 million grant supporting this program will provide for all initial start-up costs and cover operating expenses for three years, at which time the program is expected to become self-sustaining through partnerships and endowments.
The Pathway Home program is designed to encompass an innovative combination of proven treatment modalities and several promising new methods and techniques, and will integrate transition care for returning veterans with follow-on support for them and their families in a community setting. Iraq and Afghanistan veterans will spend 60 to 120 days in residence at the Yountville Home, in some cases accompanied by their spouses. After completing the residential portion of the program, veterans and their families will return to their homes and communities but will continue to participate in The Pathway Home program. Counselors and other program employees will stay in regular contact with each veteran and their family to ensure long-term successful reintegration.
The program will be housed in Madison Hall, a former long-term care building on the Yountville Home’s 500-acre campus, which was rehabilitated specifically to house this program by the California National Guard 578th and 579th Engineer Battalions in March of this year. Veterans will be referred to The Pathway Home program by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Polytrauma Center in Palo Alto and other sources, including the California National Guard.
Founded in 1884 by the Grand Army of the Republic, the Veterans Home of California-Yountville is now operated by the California Department of Veterans Affairs and today serves nearly 1,100 aged and disabled veterans from World War II through Operation Desert Storm.
For more information contact Jody Price, Public Information Officer, Veterans Home of California-Yountville at (707) 944-4539 or at jody.price(at)cdva.ca.gov.
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