Veterans get help at Confide

Over the summer, a Marine from Rockville Centre visited Police Commissioner Charles Gennario, himself a Marine.

The man and his son both fought in Afghanistan. But his son was captured by the enemy and beheaded. His murder was recorded and his father saw the tape. The man, haunted by his son’s murder, was contemplating suicide. Not knowing what else to do, Gennario referred him to Art Rosenthal and the Confide Counseling and Consultation Center.

“They worked with this guy for about a month,” said Jack McKeon, former RVCPD commissioner and a member of Confide’s Board of Directors. “No one charged him — not a bill was sent. And now he’s back on his feet.”

Confide has a long history of helping people who are struggling with drug and alcohol addiction and those who need counseling. But in the last few years, it has expanded its program to offer free services to veterans.

The veterans programs are run by McKeon and Nassau County Police Officer Richard Hefferon. Both volunteer their time on Sunday evenings to run a counseling group for veterans. They talk about their experiences, Agent Orange-related illness (of which McKeon suffers) and also share tips about how to access services for veterans.

“What’s happening is that a lot of guys out there aren’t talking to anybody and don’t have any clue,” McKeon said. “There’s a lot out there for them. We try to get to them and get them to the right location.”

Hefferon and McKeon are both veterans. Hefferon was in the Marine Corps for four years, serving a hostile fire tour in Beirut in the 1980s. McKeon has been in the armed services for three decades, serving in both the Army and Navy. He served several hostile fire tours in Asia and the Middle East.

“Rich and Jack are quite a team to watch in action with the tongue-inc-cheek humor that is so common between members of both services,” said Rosenthal, the executive director of Confide, in a release. “Their comedic antics serve to lighten the mood of the serious subject matters being addressed.”

McKeon help create the veterans group in 2009, when he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, which doctors said is related to his exposure to Agent Orange. He had been volunteering with Confide for years before hand. “As commissioner of police, I became more knowledgeable about the wide variety of services they provide,” he said.

“We offer a variety of counseling services, both in the form of individual therapeutic services, substance and alcohol abuse services, and some family counseling,” Rosenthal said. “And we also offer veteran-specific self-help groups. We offer these services free of charge to veterans.”

Confide’s veterans group meets on Sunday evenings at 7 p.m. at the Confide offices, located at 30 Hempstead Avenue, Suite H9, in Rockville Centre. All of Confide’s other services are available by appointment. Call 764-5522 for more information or to schedule an appointment.

“If it weren’t for [veterans], we wouldn’t be able to do very much of anything,” Rosenthal said. “We believe that [our services] are in honor of the services that they’ve provided this country.”