After noticing an influx of veterans returning to the states struggling with addiction, David Greenberg decided, “Who better to help these veterans recover than others who had also served in the military as well?”

Greenberg, director of the Veterans Program at Outreach Training Institute, a facility that cares for people with alcohol and substance abuse problems and also trains candidates to become certified alcohol and drug counselors, said he thinks matching veterans with other veterans seemed a natural pairing.

“I came up with this idea because I noticed there was a lot of press about veterans coming back with problems and I just thought it was great if veterans can help veterans,” Greenberg said.

The Outreach Training Institute has three offices – the flagship office in Richmond Hill, one in Greenpoint, Brooklyn and another in Brentwood in Suffolk County. Currently seven veterans seeking to be counselors are being trained by the Outreach Training Institute through an 11-month training session, which meets 10 hours a week over two different days. Greenberg emphasized the fact the program is always actively seeking veterans who want to get involved.

“I urge them to think about any problems they had when they returned to the States, and to understand they would be uniquely qualified to work with veterans that return to the States because they have a shared background and a shared experience,” he said.

When watching two veterans interact, you can instantly tell they have “a certain therapeutic relationship,” Greenberg said, adding that out of the 300 counselors the institute graduates each year, he hopes eventually one third of the graduates will be members of the Veterans Program.

CS1 (AW) Kimberly Brown (Ret. USN) is currently training to become a certified counselor in the Veterans Program at the Richmond Hill location. Brown served in the U.S. Navy from 1988 to 2008 and was stationed in Iraq from 2007 to 2008. After a suggestion from a counselor, two months ago Brown became involved with the program that she dubs “a beautiful thing.”

“As a vet, I wanted to help other vets that are going through the changes and readjustments that I went through on my own,” Brown said.

She said she believes veterans can be especially helpful to one another since those who have not served in a war “don’t know what it is to go to the trenches and have to deal with all types of craziness.”

She admitted to struggling with her own return home, leading her to become detached and withdrawn.

“The transition was not a very good one,” Brown said. “The person I was before I left was not the person I was when I came back.”

Although some discouraged Brown from entering the program fearing it may stifle her own recovery, she said she believes helping others allows one to gain self-awareness and encourages a better understanding of one’s own problems.

Brown encouraged the friends and relatives of veterans to support their loved ones upon their return home.

“Listen to your sailor, solider or whoever it is, because sometimes they need to talk, they need to help someone understand,” she said

Greenberg emphasized the fact that once the military initiatives abroad end and soldiers make the long trek home, there will be a number of challenges to conquer and Americans have a responsibility to provide support to their veterans.

“When the vets come home, they are going to come in great numbers and with those great numbers will come great problems,” he said. “We need to be ready to help them. In fact, it’s our duty to help them because there our veterans.”

If interested in applying for entrance, contact David Greenberg at (718) 849-6300 Ext. 101.

Reach Reporter Kaitlyn Kilmetis at kkilmetis@queenstribune.com, or (718) 357-7400, Ext. 128.