(4/5) “This works feels very familiar. I ran an AIDS program for...

(4/5) “This works feels very familiar. I ran an AIDS program for twenty years before I started working with veterans. Both jobs involve a highly stigmatized diagnosis. And both involve counseling people who have had a horrible, unexpected experience. I began working with AIDS during the 1980s. It seemed like we were losing an entire generation of gay men. We had no fucking idea what was happening. It was terrifying. The moment I shook a new client’s hand, I’d steel myself for his death. My clients never lived more than two years and I had 125 at a time. I tried to reassure them as much as I could. I tried to help them with their shame. But mainly I just tried to manage their terror. Our support groups could be gruesome. Participants would come in with IV poles and we were losing people every single week. Group members could look around the room and see the specter of their own future. It was horrifying. But they came anyway. They came every week because it was better than facing it alone. This work has always been more than professional to me. Because after work every single night, I’d go home to my partner, and care for him. Because he was dying too.”

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Gerard Ilaria is the head clinician at Headstrong Project. He has provided one-on-one treatment for most of the veterans featured in this series. Many of those veterans credit him with saving their life. For the rest of the day, we are holding a fundraiser to help Gerard and Headstrong in their mission to heal veterans with PTSD. The organization’s budget last year was only $750,000. We’ve raised nearly half that so far. A small donation will go a long way, so please consider donating: http://bit.ly/2bQe8cR