Veterans Marianne Choate (left) and Steve Grove, participants in the digital-photography program at the Long Beach Veterans Administration Hospital, try out a camera during one of the group’s photography field trips to Venice Beach this past summer.
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For a year, U.S. Army veteran Steve Grove had been an enthusiastic participant in the digital-photography program at the Long Beach Veterans Administration Hospital, learning to use the latest technology in cameras and photo-processing software to complement the knowledge he’d already gained from shooting on film years prior. The program not only helped him learn the basics of working with digital photography and computer processing techniques, it served its other purpose— offering positive mental stimulation and a new way to connect with others.
Then, in 2010, circumstances shifted suddenly— and drastically— for him.
He and his wife had traveled to his home town in Illinois to visit his mother. It was a trip that would be characterized by two life-changing events.
“The morning before we were going to leave, I was out for my morning bike ride,” Grove said, “and a car behind me, going about 40 miles an hour, hit me from behind.”
Seriously injured, he was transported by ambulance to a medical facility in Effingham, Illinois, and from there airlifted to a better equipped facility 75 miles away in Urbana. The accident resulted in a cracked skull, a traumatic brain injury, broken bones and an injured hip. He was in a coma for several days.
“I was at the VA Hospital when I came out of the coma,” Grove said. “Unfortunately, while I was there, my mom passed away… I couldn’t even process that at the time, and I couldn’t go to the funeral.”
He said the hospital in Urbana kept him until he was well enough to return to California, although the length of time he was there and his return date aren’t quite clear to him. He estimates he was in Illinois a couple of months.
“Then I continued my treatment and recovery at the Long Beach VA,” he said.
A few months later, he had a seizure, which, he said, is common among those who have sustained brain injuries.
Grove, who is nearly 70, said he has since recovered quite well, but that, with brain injuries, a person may appear fine but “you can’t see what’s under the hood.” He still takes medication for seizures and mood swings.
“If you didn’t know any of this and you met me and talked to me, and I didn’t give you any clues, you probably would not know that I had a traumatic brain injury,” Grove said. “But that doesn’t mean I don’t have issues to deal with. For example, I can be easily overloaded with input.”
Grove also explained that there are times when he knows exactly what he wants to say but cannot get the words out. Despite these setbacks, there’s a tone of optimism in his attitude, and he attributes much of his recovery to his return to the VA’s project.
“I had started the photo therapy program before all this happened,” Grove said. “I was anxious to get back into it, and I started going back as soon as possible, and still, that’s pretty vague too, but I found it very— it certainly was a safe haven.”
Grove uses those two words— “safe haven” — repeatedly when he describes the Long Beach VA’s digital-photography program, and perhaps it’s because of that feeling of security that he was able to make a remarkable discovery about his post-accident capabilities.
“First, being in the program was therapeutic,” he said. “I found the creative process of photography to help in some way to improve my cognitive abilities. Another discovery was I was more creative after the accident— I found myself seeing light differently.”
In addition to his newfound sense of artistic perspective, he gained a fresh appreciation for the program that transcended its “art as therapy” aspects.
“Being around and with fellow veterans provided a safe haven for me to recover. Then, as I got better, I wanted to share and help others,” he said. “Now I help instruct and prepare lessons for the program. There is nothing better and more rewarding than helping others.”
Robin Breit, instructor and volunteer for the digital-photography therapy program, sees it as more than just a project to help participants take better pictures. She describes it is as an undertaking that can lift the spirit, expand the mind, create self-worth, and become the foundation and starting point for veterans to return to a path of wellness and whole being.
The program was created and sponsored by the VA Long Beach (VALB) Healthcare System and Dr. Sophia Chun, director of Spinal Cord Injury, as a pilot recreational therapy program, offering healing therapy for veterans with limited mobility.
“Originally, the program was developed as a creative therapy for veterans with limited abilities as an innovative way to lift the spirit and expand the mind through the art of photography,” Breit said.
It was then sponsored by and funded through The VA League, California Paralyzed Veterans Association and Volunteer Services when it was expanded to include all VALB veterans.
Veterans are referred to the program, which is housed in the VA’s Community Living Center, through recreational therapists, social workers, VA doctors, and word of mouth from those who have participated in the program.
One of the highlights of the program is the photo exhibits the veterans and volunteers organize. The group mounted its second exhibit at the Gina M. Woodruff Gallery last August and will present its next one on Wednesday, Nov. 5 in the VA’s Blind Rehab Building. “The images are available through silent auction at the show,” Breit said. “The funds generated are donated to Volunteer Services at the Long Beach VA, earmarked for the veterans photography program.”
Breit said that, since the show in August, the program’s enrollment numbers have increased.
“The last count was 135, but we have added aproximately 10 veterans and volunteers after the last show in August,” she said.
Most of the participants supply their own cameras, but there are 15 donated point-and-shoot cameras on loan for those who are not able to purchase their own.
Breit cited location as the most challenging aspect of the project, as a result of limited funds. “Funding is a big issue as we are no longer funded through the VA,” she said. “We have been self-funded since 2012.”
Still, Breit and the other volunteers are determined to keep their labor of love going.
“It is my way to serve [the veterans] and my country,” Breit said. “I have an art background, and I feel gratification that I am able to contribute in this way.”
Linda Hicks, the program’s facilitator who is herself an Air Force veteran, first went to the Long Beach VA seeking treatment for lupus. She was diagnosed while she was serving, having joined the Air Force in 1968 and serving eight years active and then retiring as an E7 from the Reserves after 21 years.
She was referred to recreational therapy in the Spinal Cord Injury department, where she said she found many friends who taught her how to focus on what works rather than dwell on what didn’t. Like Grove, Hicks found therapeutic value in giving back.
“By helping others, I learned to manage stress and live my life one day at a time,” she said. “I experienced and witnessed the positive differences recreational therapy programs made for myself and for many of the veterans I assisted. In recreational therapy, the only thing I had to lift was spirits.”
Hicks said she was offered the opportunity to run the program in 2009 after a recreational therapist had recommended her.
“Of course I said ‘yes!’ This was something I have wanted to see at the VA for a long time,” she said. “My role was to build the program from concept to reality and support the instructor, Michael Ziegler, a professional photographer who had also taught at the Rancho Los Amigos Rehabilitation Center’s program. Our program did not receive VA adoption, but the positive changes we witnessed in each of our veterans convinced us that this program served a greater purpose and made a difference in the quality of life of our veterans.”
In 2012, the program lost its funding and instructor, and that’s when Breit stepped in to teach.
“Robin became our lead instructor and teaches the major portion of our ‘Seeing the World Creatively’ series,” Hicks said. “Robin also leads our digital labs and keeps us informed and focused. I do the technical support using my iPad and WiFi. I consider Robin the head of our program now, and I am the butt— the part that you don’t see, but I am part of the foundation.”
She said Breit offers her teaching skills and “art history major background” while Hicks serves more as the “techie.”
“We also have two veterans, Steve Grove— also a dedicated volunteer and instructor in our program— and Lonnie Scott, who willingly presents a variety of workshops to the class to increase our skills,” she said. “We continue to encourage and welcome whatever skills our veterans and volunteers bring to the table.”
Just as Grove views the program as a “safe haven” and Breit sees it as spirit-lifting, Hicks also believes the program is about much more than just photography.
Hicks equates the word “re-creation” with “recreation.”
“I am an advocate for recreational therapy programs,” she said. “I would like to see the VA expand recreation therapy to be open to forming other veteran and volunteer peer-support groups of common interests like ours. The list is endless, and all provide some form of therapy, and it would not cost that much to do it. When we do something that is fun and enjoyable, it is good for our bodies. When our spirit is in alignment with our bodies, we smile brighter, sit and stand taller and walk straighter. Our program is a model, and photography is a good medium because through photography you can share almost anything.”
Hicks said the VA can be a catalyst for these re-creations and reconnections to take place but there needs to be focus on the long term.
“Recreation therapy has mostly supported its in-patient population in the past,” she said. “There is a need for the out-patient population to have access to programs like this to help the transitions back into the community. Many of our veterans want to give back and become volunteers and instructors in our program. It becomes a full circle.”
The veterans photography program is open to any veteran enrolled in the Long Beach VA Healthcare System. To enroll, visit Vetzone101.com . For more information, email Breit at robinleebreit@yahoo.com . The digital-photography labs take place on Wednesdays and Thursdays from 1pm to 4pm. The next “Seeing the World Creatively” series will start in January, but those interested may begin the program by taking photos now and then using the digital labs to make adjustments. The program’s next exhibit will be Wednesday, Nov. 5 from 11am to 2pm in the Long Beach VA’s Blind Rehab Building, #166. The VA is located at 5901 E. 7th St.
