ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, September 18, 1996 TAG: 9609180088
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SANDRA BROWN KELLY STAFF WRITER
MEMO: ***CORRECTION***
Published correction ran on September 20, 1996.
The Veterans Affairs Medical Center's new Gateway House program took
1 1/2 years to establish. A story in Wednesday's paper gave an incorrect
length of time.
PARTICIPANTS LIVE IN THE HOUSE as though they lived off site, working, coming and going, and sharing duties according to house rules, which they vote on.
A 19th-century plantation house that became the first building at what is now the Salem Veterans Affairs Medical Center may offer the best future to patients in rehab.
The two-story brick home, built in 1846 and on the National Landmarks Registry, was dedicated last week as "Gateway House." It is home to three middle-aged men who are making their way back to jobs and families from problems with alcohol and drugs.
Bobby Morgan, a Louisiana native who once caddied for PGA golfer Calvin Peete, hopes to overcome the appeal of the cocaine that lured him for years, finally keeping him from getting a job on the golf tours.
Ray Sorensen, an Austin, Texas, man who came to the area to get a government job, but was unable to leave behind his fondness for alcohol, thinks it's possible he'll get into some type of mental-health counseling work.
And Charles Knapp, who has lived in the Roanoke Valley since 1980, expects this time to beat his inclination to wander the country while dulling his thoughts with drink.
This trio are Gateway's first residents. Morgan's an ex-Navy man; Sorensen's Marine, and Knapp's Army. But in their half of the house known as Mount Airy, they're three guys trying to quit being such loners and start learning how to live more stable lives.
Each still intends to prepare his own meals, except once a week, they'll take turns cooking for each other.
Morgan's red beans and rice was a hit, he said. His is the only group dinner scheduled so far.
The house was converted to a duplex a long time ago, and if these men succeed, more residents will get to leave the medical center's psychiatric ward for the breezes of the large front porch and the back yard with the view to the valley's first in-ground swimming pool.
While the "Gateway" program was initiated by Salem VA Director John Presley, it is part of a national effort by VA hospitals to be more supportive of patients during their transition from hospitals to the community.
Participants in the program live in the house as though they lived off site. If they need medical help, they go to the doctor at the hospital, which is on the grounds. They go to work - both on the grounds and off - and get paid for it through a work therapy program. They come and go and share duties according to house rules, which they vote on. Counselors mediate and advise.
The only "police" for the men is the house manager, who is one of them. In this group, it's Morgan.
He came to the Salem VA in June after a daughter who lived in the Hampton Roads area encouraged him to get help for cocaine addiction.
"I'm on the right track this time," he said. "I'm starting to care about golf again."
Sorensen said the men had to undergo assessment interviews and psychiatric testing before being selected for the program. He has been in treatment inside the hospital for two months and with the program hopes to be on the "outside" in six months.
Knapp, who had one of his two sons at the dedication of the home, has been at the VA since July. He's been in a number of VA rehab programs in the last 15 years, he said.
"They stabilize you, and then you would go out in the community," he said.
By having to confront each other as housemates, Knapp expects the men to learn the social skills that will make them succeed on the outside.
"I used to do air conditioning and refrigeration work," he said.
Mount Airy was built by the Parrott family on its 427-acre farm. It was sold with some of the land to the federal government in 1933 and since then has been part of the 220-acre VA complex. Until recently, Mount Airy housed doctors who worked at the hospital. But when its rent reached a level with rents outside the hospital grounds, Mount Airy became vacant.
The "Gateway" project has taken 111/2 years to start, but little money, the VA staff said.
The house is one of several on the grounds. A couple of the homes are still occupied by hospital staffers, but if Presley has his way, they will end up as patient residences.
As part of the Salem VA's five year-plan, Presley has proposed building a "psychiatric village," a real working community with housing, a barber shop and a corner drugstore.
He wants a place "where people can hang out," Presley said.
LENGTH: Medium: 97 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: PHILIP HOLMAN/Staff. 1. Salem VA hospital's Gatewayby CNBprogram houses three veterans trying to overcome substance abuse
while adjusting to independent living. Officials hope the
4,000-square-foot plantation home built in 1846 is the first step in
building a `psychiatric village.' 2. Bobby Morgan, who once caddied
for PGA star Calvin Peete through 11 tournament victories, is trying
to beat a cocaine habit. color.