After graduating in 2019, members of Cal State Long Beach’s Veterans Network wanted to continue supporting each other and helping their community outside of school.
The club’s pillars include mental health and social interaction.
“When we all got out, it was my idea to continue with the club pillars,” said Jesse Soria of People of the Earth Krew. “And so a bunch of us got together and we’ve been slowly organizing community events here in Long Beach.”
The People of the Earth Krew gets together to clean up natural spaces like the beach, and to participate in physical activities together as a way to support their mental health.
Soria described a recent outing People of the Earth Krew members participated in together: members cleaned a section of Crystal Cove beach, went on a hike and had lunch and talked together afterward.
“The most important part was just being able to recollect our experience for that day when we were having lunch at the end,” Soria said.
Like many veterans across the nation, members of the People of the Earth Krew suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Soria explained that PTSD in veterans can come from a myriad of contributing factors.
“Some of us have been primarily affected by our service,” Soria said. “Some of us were in infantry, we experienced combat. Some of us have experienced kind of like the aftermath of getting out of the military, and kind of adjusting to society again.”
According to Soria, his own mental health struggles began before he enlisted in the Navy, and stemmed from a childhood marked by financial hardship and housing insecurity.
“My PTSD is a combination of before coming into the military, while I was in the military, and when I got out,” Soria said.
While in the Navy, Soria spent nine months at a time on the USS Boxer between operations. During his service he was deployed to the Persian Gulf, the outskirts of Oman and in Mombasa.
While in Mombasa, Soria assisted in anti-piracy operations.
Soria told the Signal Tribune that veterans can often experience additional mental health struggles after returning to civilian society.
“We served the country with a purpose. And when you get out you feel like you don’t have that purpose anymore,” he said. “You had a job, you had a duty when you were there, and when you get out you have nothing anymore.”
Community support is crucial to the mental health of returning servicemen and servicewomen.
“That’s when people start having different thoughts about their purpose,” Soria said. “They start having thoughts about what they did in the service, whether it was good or bad. And so it affects you mentally, that if you don’t have the right people, the right network, or people that have experienced some sort of PTSD in their life—you kind of feel alone.”
People of the Earth Krew seeks to fill this role and support its members as they cope with PTSD.
According to the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, in 2018 an average of 17.6 veterans a day committed suicide.
Soria pointed out that it’s not only veterans who suffer from PTSD. The People of the Earth Krew are able to use their experiences coping with the disorder to empathize with other members of their community.
“As veterans, we can relate to other organizations and other communities that didn’t go to combat,” Soria said. “But we can assimilate that same experience, and with the tools and skills that we are learning, the skills that we’re developing, we’re able to engage with someone that’s experienced something that they feel they might be alone.”
To keep up with the People of the Earth Krew, follow them on Instagram @pote_krew
Great job my Jesse you are an Amazing human being