SACO — Desert Storm veteran Jason Longo has not only found a place to live at the Arthur B. Huot Home in Saco, he’s also found hope for the future.

Named for Arthur Huot, a local veteran who advocated for the home and died in June of 2010, the Huot Home opened one year ago at the Kimball Health Center, providing 10 efficiency apartments for homeless veterans. There are currently nine males and one female resident. The program, run by Volunteers of America Northern New England, serves veterans who are in need of stable housing and additional services to become independent. Residents stay about two years or until the can secure the resources needed for long-term stable housing.

Longo, 40, a graduate of Johnson and Wales University with a degree in culinary arts, at one time had a successful career as an executive chef at Mohegan Sun Casino in Connecticut and was married with two children.

Later, he was using cocaine and living in his van, drinking a gallon and a half of vodka each day and on a path to self-destruction.

Longo said when he first came back to the U.S. after serving in Desert Storm, it was great to be back. And then, he said, the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder started to creep up on him. He found himself isolating himself from friends and family and having panic attacks and anxiety paranoia. He said he wasn’t talking about what was going on in his life, and he turned to alcohol.

“It was killing me and helping me at the same time,” he said ”“ helping him sleep and forget the pain, but damaging his health.

Then he started to use cocaine.

“I couldn’t stand to be in my own skin,” he said. “I guess I hated myself, but I didn’t even know why.”

Longo was in and out of veterans hospitals all over the country, and estimates that he spent seven of 10 years in veterans hospitals, being treated for addiction and post-traumatic stress disorder.

One time, he was “found dead,” unconscious and unresponsive in a field in Massachusetts. After being resuscitated, he couldn’t at first recognize his own family, he said.

He was hoping his destructive habits would eventually take his life, he said.

“I didn’t want to live life on life’s terms,” he said.

One day, he drove from Rhode Island and somehow ended up in Skowhegan in someone’s backyard. He was in “a total blackout” and doesn’t remember how he got there. About five months ago, he went to Togus Veterans Hospital, entered the Chemical Dependence Recovery Program and was referred to the Huot House.

Through the Huot home, Longo and other residents can get support they need, like psychiatric and medical care. Longo said there’s a camaraderie between residents, and they can identify with his situation. Should he have a panic attack or a nightmare, there’s someone with whom he can speak, someone who understands.

Resident Joseph Hilbert, 33, said “It’s kind of a support group for each other.”

Hilbert was a gas turbine system mechanic on the United States Navy Destroyer USS Cole when it was bombed in 2000 by terrorists while refueling in Aden Harbor, Yemen. Hilbert was in the berthing when the bomb rocked the boat, and as he went to see what had happened, he recalls seeing daylight and water where the engine room used to be. Instincts kicked in and he helped maintain safety and help others on board.

“When you’re out to sea, you’re the 911,” he said.

The initial shock was numbing, he said. Not a day goes by that he doesn’t remember the bombing.

“It was one of those experiences you can never forget,” he said.

After Hilbert left the Navy, he earned an associate’s degree in computer network security management, and four years ago, he and his wife and son moved to his wife’s home state of Maine. He worked at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard for two years, then couldn’t find steady work, and then his marriage collapsed. He didn’t have anywhere to go.

“That’s when things went downhill for me,” he said.

He called the Veteran’s Association, moved into the Veteran’s Career House in Biddeford, and then moved into the Huot Home when it opened last year.

The home is family-friendly, he said, and his 5-year-old son stays with him on the weekends.

The Huot House has been good, he said. It’s helped him keep his stress at a low level and let him “figure out where I am in life.” Hilbert said he’s looking for a job and is open to all possibilities.

For veterans who have just come back from serving in war zones, he has some words of advice: If you feel something has changed or other people have noticed a change in you, it could be a sign that you need help. For some veterans, it may be difficult to ask for help, but they need to take the initiative.

“You learn about humility,” he said.

While at one point, one of Longo’s main goals was to get to the liquor store, he can now focus on more positive goals, like maintaining a healthier lifestyle.

Now that he has his own apartment and doesn’t have to live out of his van, he can cook his own meals. He’s been eating healthier foods and uses the exercise room, which was recently equipped by a grant from the Major League Baseball Players Trust. Although previously diagnosed as diabetic, Longo hasn’t had to use insulin in nearly a month, and he’s dropped a few pant sizes. Longo wants to continue to mend relationships with his family and someday would like to own his own restaurant.

The Huot House program is successful because the veterans work hard and are motivated, said VOANE Director of Marketing, Communications and Community Engagement Glenn Michaels.

“We call it bringing them all the way home,” he said.

According to James Doherty, Maine Veterans Association spokesman, there are an estimated 800 homeless veterans in Maine. It’s difficult to get an accurate number, and there are some who haven’t been accounted for, such as those who are “sofa surfing” at friends’ homes.

VOA recently received a grant from the Maine Community Foundation to help better determine the number of homeless veterans in Maine.

Veterans can face a number of difficulties, including health issues, post-traumatic stress disorder and disabilities, said Cheryl Beversdorf, president and CEO of the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans in Washington, D.C. in a 2008 interview. Some, who joined the military after high school, may not have the skills necessary for a well-paying job in the American market, while others may have a hard time getting back on track after leaving jobs and apartments to go abroad and serve, she said.

Doherty said it may be difficult for some military veterans to ask for services.

“It’s difficult to ask for help when you’re taught to suck it up and press on,” he said, but veterans have earned the right to assistance through their service to our country, he said.

— Staff Writer Liz Gotthelf can be contacted at 282-1535, Ext. 325 or egotthelf@journaltribune.com.