Bryan Jones is undergoing a rehabilitation and treatment program with the Veterans Treatment Court, and is in Phase 3, which is the last stage. He has just 3 months left. But how did Jones get here?
In September 2016, Jones participated in a standoff with police According to a police report, he fired several shots towards the police at his home toward his former girlfriend. His former girlfriend had apparently broken up with him following an argument and looked to retrieve her things, but Jones didn’t want that to happen. What followed was that Jones called the Veterans Affairs suicide hotline to report that he was suicidal.
After the tragic experience, he was treated at the Community Hospital in Munster later transferred to the VA psychiatric ward in Chicago and finally to Lake County Jail. Jones had previously finished an 18 month stint with the Veterans Treatment Court which helped a lot in getting him a second chance in the program late 2016. The court that is specialized for veterans has 64 participants, 12 will be graduating from the program come next week on November 15th. However, Jones is not in the list of the graduates. Jones has since started his own peer support program, IGY6 NWI, which has been designed to offer education, fellowship, and intervention for service personnel. The IGY6 stands for I Got Your 6 Back. He feels a sense of purpose that was instilled in him by the military, and that’s why IGY6 is very important to him. The group welcomes all veterans, any age or gender. Jones is now a certified peer specialist. He has his weekly meetings on Thursdays at 6 p.m. in the Crown Point area. (For more information, call Jones at 219-293-5795 or email at bryj0619@gmail.com.)
