Navy Veteran Creates Support Program for Incarcerated Veterans MA

Mayumi Kimura joined the Navy on September 27, 2001, weeks after the 9/11 attacks. She managed radar systems as an operations specialist, deploying to the Persian Gulf and serving three years aboard the USS Blue Ridge, the Seventh Fleet flagship based in Yokosuka, Japan.

In 2005, while stationed in Japan, Kimura became pregnant. The Navy transferred her to Travis Air Force Base in Northern California, then assigned her to a seven-month deployment to the Persian Gulf four months after her daughter's birth. She left the Navy in 2007 and settled in San Diego, where she struggled with the transition to civilian life and separation from her daughter.

Kimura earned a bachelor's degree in psychology and worked in hospice care before pursuing a Master of Social Work. She became a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and discovered her focus through repeated conversations with veterans about benefits and support systems.

She now leads the Housing Unit for Military Veterans (HUMV), a treatment program in a Massachusetts jail and house of correction. The program includes individual therapy, PTSD treatment, service dogs, trauma-informed yoga, and art therapy for incarcerated veterans. Kimura started as a case manager before moving into leadership.