Derrick Iozzio’s phone is always on, he says. Always. And that’s one of the things that sets him and his organization apart from other groups that provide services to military veterans and others in crisis.
Iozzio, a trained peer support mental health specialist and facilitator, founded Catch-22 Peer Support in response to what he saw as a growing need to address the suicide crisis, especially among veterans.
Guest co-host Phyllis Maynard teamed up with John C. Rose for Tuesday’s Town Talk program and they spoke with Iozzio about two nonprofit organizations he helped launch. In addition to Catch-22, he is the co-founder of Save Vets. Both groups have a presence online and on social media. https://catch-22-peer-support-llc.business.site/ and www.savevets.org.
An Army veteran himself, Iozzio said he works to bridge the gaps in services that are provided to veterans. Those “big organizations with big bank accounts” provide valuable resources to so many, but oftentimes, veterans need help outside the 9-5, Monday-Friday time frame.
Catch-22 offers peer support and a way to “interact with our heroes and to help them find resources to live the life they want to live,” he said.
A few months ago, his phone rang in the middle of the night. On the other end was a person in crisis. “It was a veteran who called with a pistol in his hand,” Iozzio said. “He didn’t have anyone to talk to.” Iozzio convinced him to put the gun away – and convinced him to seek help, which he did.
Quick to point out that he is not a licensed medical professional or crisis interventionist, Iozzio says simply, “I am there for people, if you need help.”
Catch-22 addresses what Iozzio said were shortcomings in the way veterans were able to access help in their communities and can provide a bridge in the gap of accessibility to resources.
It’s one way that he continues to provide “the best resources for my brother and sister veterans and for first responders,” he said.
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