EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (KOAA) — When active-duty military members leave the service, they often lose the tight-knit support system they depended on every day.

Without that camaraderie, some veterans struggle alone, leading to depression, self-medication, or even crisis. That's exactly what Next Chapter has been working to prevent the last three years.

"The benefits to the next chapter is everybody in this program is a clinician, is a veteran, and has walked in their shoes, and so, when they come through our door or call on the phone, they're talking to a peer immediately," said Damian McCabe, who oversees Next Chapter, a program run through UCHealth and Mt. Carmel Veterans Services.

"We tackle the stigma of mental health care every day, we're knocking down the barrier of financial acce

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