When Army combat veteran Josh Pallotta died by suicide in 2014, his mom made a promise to help other service members who are battling post-traumatic stress.
Val Pallotta’s vision to end veteran suicide sprang to life with the recent opening of Josh’s House, a veterans wellness and recreation center in Colchester, Vermont.
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“I am not going to stop until it’s zero veterans commit suicide each day,” she told Connecting Vets.
Josh was a member of a Vermont National Guard unit serving in Afghanistan when two of his friends were killed in action and he suffered a traumatic brain injury.
“When he came home, he was withdrawn,” Val said. “He couldn’t sleep at night, so he slept during the day. We tried everything, tough love, you know? Nothing helped.”
Josh was 25 when he ended his own life. Almost immediately upon his death, Val began speaking out in order to raise awareness about veteran suicide. She said she didn’t sugarcoat how her son died, either.
“His obituary said he died by suicide,” she said.
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Val then turned her attention to other members of Josh’s unit, asking them what would help them as they made the adjustment from being deployed to a combat zone to life back home.
“They said they wanted a place where they could go, hang out, talk, play video games,” she said.
Those conversations took Val on a nearly seven-year fundraising and support building odyssey that led to the opening of Josh’s House last month.
“This is about veterans reintegrating and having a normal life,” Val said.
Andrea Gagner, executive development director for the Josh Pallotta Fund, said Josh’s House has a community kitchen and a gym.
“There is also a computer lab,” she added.
Val said Josh’s House isn’t a “one and done” proposition, either. She hopes to open two more similar facilities in Vermont and a similar facility in each of the other 49 states across the country.
Reach Julia LeDoux at Julia@connectingvets.com.
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