Health issues

Post-traumatic stress disorder is the most common concern staff see at the One Stop, along with veterans coping with traumatic brain injury and military sexual trauma, said Melinda Bonds, program director for adult mental health at MHMR

Steve Hernandez, veteran services officer for McLennan County and one of the One Stop tenants, said he regularly sees 15 to 20 veterans who have some form of schizophrenia. Though he does not have a clinical background, Hernandez said he has been able to build a rapport with those veterans, and they specifically request him to help them with problems that arise.

At times, those veterans may report issues with reoccurring symptoms, concerns about their medication, or problems with family because of their illness. Hernandez said he has to lean on MHMR for mental health assessments and that having more counseling staff and options would benefit the facility.

“It does take a while to develop that trust, and some of these folks they come back and when they have an issue and they want to just talk to me, which is okay, but at the same time I only know so much,” Hernandez said. “There’s so much I can do, not just from a medical treatment perspective, but just making sure that they’re stable.”