Walking Rhode Island: Bite-size hikes through nature, history THE RHODE ISLANDER, 7B NEW ENGLAND NEWSPAPER OF THE YEAR SUNDAY, APRIL 25, 2021 | PROVIDENCEJOURNAL.COM PART OF THE USA TODAY NETWORK MENTAL HEALTH IN RI One man’s ordeal in broken system Rafe Sweeney has languished in hospitals for years, lacking options for community care “I have faith that G. Wayne Miller The Providence Journal graduate from the university with a de- I’ll get out of this USA TODAY NETWORK gree in philosophy. institution and I’ll But since then, Rafe, 53, has lived NORTH PROVIDENCE — During his with bipolar and schizoaffective have a good life. years attending the University of Cali- disorder, a difficult journey compound- fornia San Diego in the 1980s, Raphael ed by profound failures in the system God gives me the Leon Sweeney was known for his cre- charged with caring for him and many faith. It’s a gift, ativity and kindness. Rafe, as he likes to others who live with mental illness. be called, was a good son and a friend to For Rafe, the early years were turbu- and so I can be many, a musician and an accomplished lent. From 1990 to 1992, he was repeat- firm in hope, and guitarist. edly rehospitalized in San Diego. He Then he began to experience the first made multiple suicide attempts. He that makes me symptoms of mental illness, and in the struggled to accept his illness and the strong.” spring of 1990 he was hospitalized fol- medications that can treat it. Afraid her Raphael Leon “Rafe” Sweeney in his youth, when lowing multiple suicide attempts. Origi- son would not survive, his mother symptoms of his mental illness first emerged. In Rafe Sweeney Who has been hospitalized with nally interested in studying political sci- 2016, he blinded himself while in hospital care. little contact with the outside ence, the young man would manage to See RAFE, Page 8A COURTESY OF THE SWEENEY FAMILY world for almost four years As America’s longest war winds down, Tom Mooney a wounded Army vet soldiers on with his family Staff writer The Providence Journal USA TODAY NETWORK Fishing for tranquility, not some idle chatter “So, what’s your blood pressure?” The fly fisherman talking to me from the opposite bank of the narrow trout stream was a stranger. I’d laid eyes on him for the first time upon my arrival minutes earlier, not- ing a pandemic accessory, a face cov- ering in dubious condition, wedged under his chin. Perhaps he viewed my fly rod as evi- dence of some fraternal bond. But as I scanned the smooth pool for dimples of feeding fish, he began recounting life events of the last year, including his recent high blood pressure diagno- sis: “I’m in the trades, and the trades are pretty stressful, you know. My doc- tors got me on this ...” Rhode Island natives Michael Verardo and wife Sarah walk with daughters Grace, left, Mary Scott, center, and Elizabeth at I looked back at my truck hoping I’d their home outside Charlotte, N.C., in November 2019. They mark April 24 as Michael’s Alive Day, the anniversary of his forgotten to close the door. surviving a 2010 IED attack in Afghanistan. COURTESY OF SARAH VERARDO This spring, as we all emerge from our COVID casings like rapturous may- flies, I’m discovering another form of metamorphosis underway along the Mark Patinkin See MOONEY, Page 13A Columnist The Providence Journal USA TODAY NETWORK The Eleven years ago this weekend, Sgt. Michael Verar- do stepped on an IED while on patrol in Afghanistan. It took one of his legs, and much more. And lately, more still. Yet Michael, 36, sees it not for what he lost. He fo- cuses on what he has. daily That’s why he calls April 24 his Alive Day. Having chanced upon the date’s approach, I reached out to write a story of triumph. And it is. Michael, from Lincoln, married during his recovery and now has three young girls. But this is a different kind of story, too, a reminder of the unseen struggle of many injured by war. battle I reached his wife, Sarah, outside Charlotte, North “We work hard every day at surviving. Michael’s Carolina, where they moved to be near Michael’s Army injuries are part of every minute of our day. I’m brethren around his former Fort Bragg base. And be- still unpacking what the terrorists sent home with cause wheelchairs are easier to use in warm weather. him, 11 years later.” See BATTLE, Page 11A Sarah Verardo Michael Verardo’s wife Tom Mooney casts off at Smithfield’s A.L. Mowry Pond in 2017. BOB BREIDENBACH/THE PROVIDENCE JOURNAL, FILE Police seek to close lounge Weather Volume 136 | No. 40 To subscribe 401-277-7600 United States urged to share COVID-19 A man was shot five times at a High 55° | Low 42° ©2021 $5.00 WFIDHG-00002x vaccines with poor nations. 14A downtown Pawtucket club. 4A Rain. Forecast, 12B 8A | SUNDAY, APRIL 25, 2021 | PROVIDENCE JOURNAL Salvaged from New York City ing loaded onto a freighter by the Atlan- curity uniform. His father, James, said PT boat tic Shipping Company to crash into the he’s been a member of the Coast Guard The wood and metal pieces of wreck- structure. Nardi says he’s hopeful the for 26 years and is now a reservist. Continued from Page 7A age were salvaged after JFK biographer newest display will help attract visitors. “This whole display is amazing; it’s William Doyle said he had explored a Last July, Nardi said the COVID-19 beautiful and beyond amazing,” he said. said. He also said he appreciates the seawall construction site on the Harlem pandemic had decimated revenue to the His wife, Sherri, says her son was guidance provided by Shea McLean, cu- River in New York City and identified nonprofit Battleship Cove. The site having a ball. “Our little boy wants to be rator of the USS Alabama, which Nardi the pieces as being consistent with that closed for three months, and all over- in the Coast Guard like his dad,” she says is the only remaining sister ship of in PT boat construction. night educational “camping trips” for said. “He loves ships and anything na- the USS Massachusetts battleship and In June 2020 the New York Metropol- young people were discontinued and val.” The array of World War II-era mil- is on display in Mobile, Alabama. itan Transit Authority invited Battleship have not resumed. Nardi said the bulk of itary vessels and Battleship Cove's gift “He’s a friend,” Nardi said. Cove to retrieve pieces of the wreck that revenue has always been generated by shop can be visited seven days a week The PT 59 wood parts will remain had been recovered from the river. those camping trips and private parties from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. submerged and filtered until it’s been Nardi says after the war the 77-foot and events held on the deck of the Big Admission for adults is $25 and $15 determined that all chlorides have been PT 59 was in the possession of three Mamie battleship. for children ages 4 to 12. Seniors pay leached away. The water is treated with separate owners at various times. $23, and both military veterans and polyethylene glycol, a plastic that infil- The display is in the same building as ‘The coolest thing’ anyone with an active military ID pays trates the wood pieces at the cellular the completely restored PT 617, also $16. The Maritime Museum building on level and eventually solidifies so that known as “Dragon Lady.” The recent warmer weather has been the other side of Water Street is includ- the wreckage can support its own Another PT boat, “Tail Ender” PT 796, attracting families, including the Rear- ed in the package but for now is only weight and be properly displayed. sits in the attached Quonset hut build- don clan of Middleboro, Massachusetts. open Wednesday through Saturday “If we didn’t do that it would just col- ing — which has been closed to the pub- “It’s the coolest thing I’ve ever seen,” from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. All tickets are sold lapse,” Nardi said. “It was sitting all that lic since February 2020, when strong said 8-year-old James Reardon, who inside the gift shop building and must time in salty, brackish water.” winds caused shipping containers be- was wearing a full Coast Guard port se- be purchased by 3:30 p.m. in the Rhode Island mental health care Rafe system, either at the state hospital level or in the community mental health sys- Continued from Page 1A tem. “I cannot believe that the state of brought him to Newport, where she was Rhode Island cannot summon the ex- living. He became a client of a commu- pertise and the money to place one per- nity mental health center, and for a few son who is blind and lives with serious years he was independent and stable. mental illness in a residence where he This was the mid- to late 1990s, when will be safe. Doing this will be a hell of a Rhode Island had ended decades of lot cheaper than keeping him locked up gross abuse of people living with mental in the long-term unit at Fatima.” illness and developmental and intellec- Although BHDDH is currently work- tual disabilities by closing state institu- ing to transition Rafe to a group home, tions and creating a system of commu- he has not moved yet.