Veterans For Veterans

Nov. 4, 2016

Project Cherry Tree Aims To Create One-Stop-Shop For Veteran Care In Northern Michigan

When former U.S. Marine David Mikowski returned from the Vietnam War after serving in combat in 1967 and 1968, he recalls coming home “like all veterans did from the Vietnam War: dazed and confused about what to do next with my life.”

Mikowski, now an economic consultant for Grand Traverse County, says he was “lucky enough” to obtain a college degree and go on to have a professional business career following his service to his country. But he recognized early on “that services for veterans – and resources to get those services – were slim at best,” he said.

“That’s everything from housing to G.I. Bill information to college loans to healthcare. All of those things were very, very difficult to obtain,” Mikowski said. “That’s was 50 years ago…and not much has changed. The system has gotten a little better, but you can still fall into the abyss. Veterans are still facing the same issues they did back then.”

Mikowski, who discloses he “proudly” still regularly utilizes veterans counseling services to navigate the traumatic reverberations of combat, is passionate about helping his fellow veterans access the care and benefits that will help them also heal and thrive in civilian life. “I want to see a change because of how it’s affected me personally,” he said. “It’s a calling for me. I’m going to pay it forward to the community I grew up in.”

Mikowski’s ambitious plan: to launch a full-service veterans care community in northern Michigan that will act as a onestop-shop for healthcare, housing, education and job training resources. Nicknamed Project Cherry Tree, the initiative has already attracted a formidable list of advisors and committee members since its August launch, including high-ranking military members, U.S. Senators, hospital CEOs, college presidents, business owners, and community politicians and leaders.

“We have assembled some of the smartest minds in the U.S. from every business and community genre,” said Mikowski, who is a co-project manager on Project Cherry Tree along with Grand Traverse County Planning Director John Sych. In addition to seeking nonprofit status, Project Cherry Tree’s leaders hope to create a 25-county test pilot program in northern Michigan officially backed by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) that could become a model eventually replicated in communities across the country.

“What’s different with this (from past efforts to reform veterans care) is we now have federal support to change this 75-year-old system, and make it easier and less cumbersome to access these resources,” said Mikowski.

Mikowski is referencing the June release of the Commission on Care report, a series of federal recommendations made by a blueribbon panel convened by Congress. The Commission on Care was tasked with analyzing VA operations and veterans’ access to healthcare through the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) and providing suggestions to improve both.

One of the report’s key recommendations is to have the VHA “establish highperforming, integrated community-based health care networks.” In layman’s terms, the report calls for creating local networks of both VA clinics and private healthcare providers that allow veterans to access the full range of treatment and care options they need in their own backyards.

That’s critical for the 640,865 veterans in northern Michigan, who currently average a 320-mile, five-hour round trip for an appointment at the nearest VA medical center in Saginaw, says Project Cherry Tree officials. Expected changes in the next two years could increase that average to a 500-mile, eight-hour round trip – with eastern Upper Peninsula veterans enduring even longer trips.

But instead of driving downstate, what if veterans could receive treatment at Munson Medical Center in Traverse City? Or at McLaren Northern Michigan in Petoskey? With the VA now looking at expanding those types of local community options based on the Commission on Care’s recommendations, Project Cherry Tree hopes northern Michigan can be one of the first areas to get such an integrated healthcare network off the ground.

Two officials within the VA, speaking off the record, shared their frustrations with the existing clinic system and confirmed the need for expanded healthcare options for area veterans.

“If I were to get sick between yearly (primary care) visits, that’s a problem,” one official, a combat veteran, said. “If you don’t have health insurance, it’s a bigger problem. If there’s an emergency, it’s not well-known if the VA would cover those costs; it’s not clear how it all works, and it doesn’t work all the time. If you live in Charlevoix or Petoskey or Harbor Springs, you don’t have anything available to you immediately. Access to services is a huge and ongoing problem.”

Another official spoke of veterans struggling to find transportation to downstate appointments, missing multiple classes or job shifts to travel hours for healthcare visits, and being bounced around between various clinics. One veteran the official recently worked with was struggling to make repeated trips downstate for crucial medical services, while also trying to hold down a job and find housing with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). “He’s trying hard to work within the system, but it’s just been very difficult,” the official said. “It’s be so great if he had something local he could access and use.”

Beyond the critical goal of expanded local healthcare options, Project Cherry Tree has identified several key goals for improving opportunities and quality of life for veterans in northern Michigan. Organizers hope to eventually build long-term care and independent living facilities for veterans, construct a lodging facility for veterans and their family members when visiting Traverse City for healthcare services, streamline educational resources, and connect veterans with jobs and jobs training.

Project Cherry Tree also hopes to establish a national cemetery in northern Michigan, honoring local veterans with a “final resting place” in their home region. Partners at the Project Cherry Tree table working to bring those various program to life include leaders and representatives from Munson and McLaren, Northwestern Michigan College, Grand Valley State University, Goodwill Northern Michigan, the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, Grand Traverse Pavilions, and the VA for Grand Traverse, Leelanau and Benzie Counties.

U.S. Senator Don Riegle sits on the advisory committee, as does Michigan Senator Jason Allen. Two brigadier generals, a major general and a vice admiral are also advisors, representing the Coast Guard, Air Force, Army and Marine Corps. Doctors, developers, real estate agents and economic development experts are also lending their expertise.

At a recent October Project Cherry Tree committee meeting, members provided up dates on different subcommittee projects they were working on – including housing, education and healthcare efforts – and brainstormed additional services and resources they could extend to veterans as the program gains traction. Grand Traverse County Commissioner Dr. Bob Johnson – a Coast Guard veteran who also sits on Michigan’s Veterans Facilities Board of Managers – shared an update on legislation that could eventually expand housing options for veterans in northern Michigan.

Executive Director Mindy Buell of grief counseling center Michael’s Place, meanwhile, spoke about guided grief support groups for veterans and families who’ve suffered losses, as well as connecting veterans who utilized their services to other community resources. She also spoke about the need to help employers of veterans understand the challenges their employees may be facing. “We have co-workers and owners who have no idea how to help grieving employees, and therefore (those employees) can lose their jobs,” she said. “We help them understand, and also help (the employees) learn to be productive in the workplace.”

The diverse gathering reflected a wide range of community expertise – much of it contributed by veterans who’ve had their own struggles and experiences transitioning back to civilian life and navigating the system to access resources. Those members expressed enthusiasm about the opportunity to give back to their fellow veterans, and to help Project Cherry Tree meet its goal of “earning national recognition (for northern Michigan) as the best place in the country for returning veterans.”

Retired Major General Michael Lehnert said reaction to Project Cherry Tree’s proposal has been “universally positive” from the Military Officers Association of America. Grand Traverse County Administrator Tom Menzel – who accompanied Mikowski, Sych and Grand Traverse Band representatives to Washington D.C. in September for meetings with the VA and Senators Debbie Stabenow and Gary Peters – says those gatherings went “extremely well.” Menzel is optimistic Project Cherry Tree is in a “prime position” to receive VA backing and become a national test pilot for veterans programming.

“The key is we’ve gotten in front of the right people who are able to make decisions, and we’ve established those relationships,” Menzel said. “We’ve got a program that will meet the VA’s goals, and we’re out in front of everyone else on this. The timing is right for us to really do something that can make a difference.”

For more information, visit www.facebook.com/projectcherrytree. Photos courtesy of Sister Studio, Cadillac