Many who serve in the U.S. Armed Forces deal with issues of anxiety and depression after they return from deployment.

U.S. Army veteran Stephanie Waddell found life after deployment difficult to navigate. It wasn’t until she met a representative from the Minnesota Assistance Council for Veterans, or MACV, that life got better.

Waddell smiles when she thinks about the eight years she served. She was a medic and deployed to Iraq in 2009.

“We did sick call for the vets, we did all the meds for the detainees, we did kind of like an on-call thing,” she said. “I was kind of working a second shift EMT thing most of the time.”

Her work was rewarding, but the year she spent in Iraq was not without challenges.

“The threat was there. It’s just the fact that you were on constant guard,” she said.

However, it was the challenges she faced when she returned home to Iowa that really took a toll. She got a job at the VA in Iowa City and finished up course work to become a paramedic.

Then, for a change, Waddell moved to Minnesota for a job. That’s when life took a drastic turn. She lost her job, and then lost her way.

“Lots of hours just laying there crying, not wanting to do anything, not wanting to move, not wanting to do anything,” she said. “None of my stuff that made me feel good was helping.”

Waddell says for the first time in her life, she did not know what to do.

“How is this harder than my deployment? How is this harder than my training? What’s wrong with me that it’s affecting me? So why can’t I just do what I used to and just get up and do?” she said.

Waddell and her partner Charlie tried to figure things out and relied on friends to help them get back on track.

“Charlie and I were living out of our vehicle and kind of couch surfing with some friends,” she said.

Both spent many nights sleeping at the rest stop in Elm Creek. It was a breaking point for this war veteran.

“For the first time in my life getting low. My plan failed and I did not know what was going on. I was scared and I said, ‘What is your baseline?’ And got myself to the VA and was an impatient for a few days, and that’s when I met James and he got me started with MACV,” she said.

MACV outreach coordinator James McCloden introduced Waddell to benefits she earned for serving her country.

“From the first time I met him, his presence, his demeanor, no judgment, just, ‘I’m here, this is what you didn’t know about. Let’s go,'” she said.

MACV got Waddell into her own place and for the first time in a long time, she says she felt whole.

“Just having that space to be and not feel like the world is closing in on you, that is the best part of finally having a place,” she said.

Waddell is slowly getting things organized, and finding joy in the little things.

“Reading, video games, crafting. I was doing like a cross stitch project, like you are stabbing a needle over and over into this thing that’s a safe outlet,” she said. “No words can ever repay the things that have been done.”

MACV is also currently helping Waddell find work. MACV is seeing a growing number of female veterans looking for help, thus the need for housing that can accommodate them.

Donations are needed to build new housing, and new partnerships with landlords are essential to provide all veterans with a safe home for the holidays.

You can support WCCO’s joint mission with MACV to help veterans like Waddell right now. To make a donation, text MACV to 44321. You can also give online at wcco.com/holidays.

12/3/2025 Reg Chapman, WCCO