Iowa veterans create High Caliber app to build a community

CEDAR RAPIDS - At 21, Jacob Hutchinson had survived the blast from an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan.

The Iowa National Guard medic sustained severe injuries to both his legs and an arm, requiring 20 surgeries and 19 months in rehabilitation in San Antonio, Texas, in 2011.

When his rehab was complete, Hutchinson - 'Hutch” to his friends - retired from the military and moved to Bloomington, Ind., to a home prepared to fit his needs

Yet even though he survived physical damage, he battled with mental pain. He couldn't sleep at night and had trouble remembering. He was stressed and didn't have the same support system he had in the military, his mother, Sela Gonlubol, recalled.

'Jacob could make friends anywhere, but it wasn't the same type of community one has when you're with Army guys,” Gonlubol said.

In early 2014, Hutchinson made an appointment to see a mental health professional, she said. Three weeks later, before the appointment was scheduled, he took his own life. He was 24.

Now, a group of veterans and serving members of the miliary are using Hutchinson's story, their own experiences and those of many others in the military to drive forward a new company.

'The real hope today and tomorrow and every day is that the veteran suicide rate decreases significantly,” said Alyssa Quinn, a co-founder of High Caliber Community and a friend of Hutchinson's.

Under High Caliber, Quinn and three others are developing a social media app specifically for current and former service members. If veterans can connect to each other, meet in person and share their experiences, they'll be able to find a community they may not otherwise have, the founders said.

High Caliber joins an already crowded social media field, one dominated by a few big players. It's also not alone in its mission. There are plenty of groups for veterans and military families on Facebook.

Boston-based RallyPoint, for example, reported as a 'LinkedIn for the military,” provides a professional networking service.

What makes High Caliber different, Quinn said, is it will be exclusive to those who have served or on active duty.

The company, she explained, will use ID.me, an identity verification service also used by the Department of Veterans Affairs, to verify the military service of High Caliber's users. Once users sign up, they'll be able to connect with others based on geography and interest areas.

RallyPoint does require users be verified, but it also allows unverified users limited access, according to its website.

High Caliber expected to launch a beta test of its platform the weekend of Veterans Day. Quinn said the company had raised about $75,000. They are working with Iowa City-based Launch Deck on the app development.

‘CONSISTENTLY ON OUR PHONES'

While older generations of veterans may have gone to the American Legion or Veterans of Foreign Wars posts, today's service members are on their phones.

'Our generation - we're targeting the post-9/11 group - we are consistently on our phones throughout the day, all the time,” said Quinn, who lives in Cedar Rapids. 'We use them for entertainment, we use the social media on our phones to connect with people.”

Connections to other veterans matters because those who served, especially in combat, can have an easier time relating to each other rather than to civilians, Quinn and her co-founders said.

'A lot of vets will say, ‘I'm so glad I got out of the military,' …

but they all miss the people and they miss the pride and camaraderie,” another High Caliber co-founder, Chris Butler, of New Braunfels, Texas, said by telephone.

And maybe, they said, those connections will encourage a veteran to seek help.

'Just being around each other is going to strengthen each other mentally, physically,” said co-founder Eli Shultz, who lives in Las Vegas.

In addition to having a social media platform, High Caliber plans to offer quick access to resources for veterans, such as information on benefits, VA resources and employment opportunities. They also want to highlight veteran-owned businesses and not-for-profits.

'We definitely want to support the guys and gals out there who went out and knuckled under and started their own businesses and try and help them succeed,” Butler said.

‘SHOCK TO THE SYSTEM'

While High Caliber is not a replacement for mental health counseling and medical services, the founders hope connections made on their app lead to friendships among veterans who can help each other if needed.

Michael Hall, a staff neuropsychologist with the Iowa City Veterans Affairs Health Care System, related this to a peer approach. That method can be 'helpful in a different way” than other medical services, he said.

'The peer approach has the advantage of having that shared experience. Having a mental health degree isn't necessary to have somebody to reach out to,” Hall said.

Post-9/11 veterans, especially those with combat experience, can return from service with multiple types of trauma, Hall said. They can include post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, chronic pain and brain injuries.

About 75 percent of those with PTSD, Hall said, develop another mental health disorder within six months.

'It's almost what I would say is a natural consequence of that unnatural experience where one's life is at risk,” he said.

About 20 veterans a day commit suicide, according to the VA's most recent report. Suicide rates are the highest among veterans between 18 and 34 years old.

'Oftentimes leaving the military is a real shock to the system because you lose those supports, the people that have been through the same things that they have,” Hall said.

If done right, Hall said social media apps can augment and complement what the VA already does.

'This takes a community. It takes family members, it takes peers, friends,” he said. 'They're a key part in trying to deal with this epidemic of suicide and also just dealing with the suffering, problems that have resulted from military experience.”

‘I'M THEIR MEDIC'

To hear his mother talk about him, Jacob Hutchinson thrived from social situations and had a bit of an impulsive streak.

'He was just somebody who was very full of life. He was someone who learned not from the experiences of others but by doing things himself,” his mother, Sela Gonlubol, said.

For example, while in Afghanistan, he bought a Ford Mustang off Craigslist and had the seller bring it to his mother's house. It was stick shift, which he didn't know how to drive.

Hutchinson joined the Iowa National Guard at 19 when his mother said he was trying to find his path forward in life. He trained to be a medic and wanted to continue in medicine when he left the military.

He was set to go to college before deployment. But when the Iowa National Guard deployed to Afghanistan in 2010, Hutchinson changed his contract to join them.

'He said, ‘I can't let my unit go without me. I'm their medic. I should be there,'” Gonlubol said.

About a month before he was supposed to come home, the IED exploded underneath a vehicle he was in while on a mission. Despite suffering injuries to both of his legs and one arm, Hutchinson helped the other soldiers with him take care of their wounds. He earned a Combat Medical Badge, an honor Gonlubol said he was most proud of even though he received a number of others.

Despite how it ended, Gonlubol views the Army as the 'best thing” for her son.

'He didn't live a very long life, but what every mom wants is that your child gets to grow up, find a sense of purpose, make a difference. He did that,” she said.

Gonlubol said she wishes the VA system worked faster to get veterans who make appointments in the door as soon as they call. She wishes her son felt he could have called somebody if he needed help.

She also hopes High Caliber, while not specifically for mental health counseling, helps veterans in the future.

'I think of Alyssa's project and I wonder, could that have made a difference? And, I don't know,” Gonlubol said. 'But I do believe that it may make a difference for somebody. That gives people like me a little hope, that not another mom is going to get that call.”

WHAT TO watch FOR

Here are some signals people can look for if they're worried about a veteran or themselves, according to Hall:

l Significant changes in mood

l Feelings of hopelessness or as if there's no reason to live

l Increased drug and alcohol use

l Withdrawal from social supports

l Self-destructive behavior, giving away belongings or saying goodbye

l Comments such as, 'I'm thinking of killing myself.”

WHERE TO GET HELP

The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline offers free help at 1-800-273-8255. Callers can use the line even if they're not suicidal at the time. Its website is suicidepreventionlifeline.org.

The same service is available at veteranscrisisline.net to veterans or those currently serving.

If a caller is worried about someone hurting themselves soon, they can call 911 and ask for a check on their well-being, Hall said.

l Comments: (319) 398-8366; matthew.patane@thegazette.com