In January, Veterans Healing Farm, a nonprofit organization committed to supporting the intellectual fitness of veterans and their families, notified that it needed to locate a new location until Thursday, Aug. 15, but according to its chief operating officer, Air Force veteran Megan Landreth. , the move is an opportunity for the farm to locate its “forever home. “
The existing 1. 77-acre assets in Hfinishersonville have performed well since the founding of Veterans Healing Farm through John and Nicole Mahshie in 2013. Since then, the farm has grown to 4 workers and 300 volunteers. But, Landreth explains, “it’s an area we’ve inherited and overcome. ” It has little parking area and only two portable toilets that serve as toilets, and relies on well water. ” We want indoor area and classrooms. “This week ends, and before the end of the week we will have full workshops for the month of May. We want a bigger area. “
Veterans Healing Farm is looking to raise $5 million to acquire a new location and expand its services throughout the year, said Alan Yeck, veteran and executive director of the Marine Corps. Farm leaders plan to create a grant with $3 million of the budget. raised to ease long-term pressure on donations. He says the farm has raised part of a million so far; A local veteran is recently offering a donation of $50,000 in donations through Saturday, June 1.
The Mahshi founded Veterans Healing Farm to provide a network focused on the emotional well-being of veterans, i. e. , the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder. “We see the organization as a national model for non-pharmaceutical intervention. “says Yeck, who joined the team in 2021.
Agritherapy, which the U. S. Department of Veterans Affairs has approved of the U. S. Department of Veterans Affairs. While the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services recognizes that it offers benefits in both vocational education and behavioral health care, it is among the leading systems of Veterans Healing Farm. “Being in combination with our hands in the ground (outside, growing) is the healing part,” Yeck says. We are not a production farm; It’s all about the procedure.
He points out that no one wants to know about farming to volunteer on the farm. “When they come, they can say, ‘I need to know more about bees’ or ‘I need to know more about organic farming,'” he says. “They will learn. They will be supervised.
Organic produce (cucumbers, peppers, kale, green beans, squash, sweet potatoes, strawberries, and blackberries) are grown in the main garden as well as in vertical structures for those with limited mobility. A team, called the “Tomato Team,” is committed to developing those bountiful fruits and is overseen by local tomato expert Craig LeHoullier.
The farm donates its generosity to citizens of domestic violence shelters and homeless shelters, as well as patients and visitors to the Charles George Veterans Affairs Medical Center, among others. “We give away everything: all the produce we grow,” says Yeck. He estimates the farm has donated 70,000 pounds of produce over the past 10 years.
Beestaying is a popular program that has its own team of volunteers, led by a Coast Guard veteran. Last year, he produced 8 gallons of honey. ” Beestayers get what they want, but if they don’t, we give the honey back to the veteran community,” Yeck says.
Volunteers can also have a garden of 68 medicinal plants, led by herbalist Rebecca Vann. The herbs concentrate on relieving health disorders common among veterans: sleep quality, anxiety, and inflammation. “Under Rebecca’s guidance, [volunteers] process other teas. , tinctures, ointments, and balms,” Yeck says. We say if we can get a veteran to take one less Pfizer tablet using an herbal medicine, then that’s a win. “
In addition to its hands-on activities, Veterans Healing Farm hosts many workshops. In 2023, it organized 49 workshops for 500 people. Many categories are held on the porch of the building, as the interior area is limited (its main area is a cargo-style Conex container).
All workshops concentrate on intellectual fitness, from artistic activities such as painting to more direct intellectual fitness topics such as grief management or suicide prevention. (The small level in the main building is named after the U. S. Navy corporal. )U. S. Joshua Alexander McArdle, a 2002 T. C. Roberson graduate and Operation Iraqi Freedom veteran who died by suicide in 2013). Suicide prevention workshops are available to everyone. ” While the veterans network is disproportionately affected by suicides, this is a crisis in the country, so we’re opening up [these workshops] to anyone who needs to come,” Yeck says.
The main building offers dog treatments with Appalachian Dog Training treatment dogs, guitar lessons, and craft classes such as leather bracelet making and knife forging. Veterans can also participate in off-site activities such as hiking, kayaking, horseback riding treatment and an e-book club at a local coffee shop. Landreth also organizes outings for veterans, such as Asheville Tourists baseball games.
The farm’s nine hives will be transported to the new location, where possible. If no new areas are discovered by mid-August, the farm’s team of beekeepers will bring hives into homes, Landreth says. Favor the bees!She laughed.
The farm plans to plant and harvest more before moving in in August.
Veterans’ Healing Farm is located in a quiet valley in Horse Shoe, along the Ecusta Trail. It’s a component of Hendersonville that has more cows and horses than residential subdivisions and highways. The staff’s wish is an equally idyllic place in Henderson County — albeit conveniently connected to a septic tank and mains electricity. The veterans’ healing farm relied on solar panels and a backup generator until Duke Energy extended local power lines to assets that lost their rate last year.
The farm is looking for between 12 and 15 acres of property. Four acres will be dedicated to agriculture, adding a greenhouse and a hydroponic growing system, which grows plants year-round by placing them in nutrient-rich water instead of soil.
A portion of the land will be used for parking. Agricultural events, such as Vietnam’s Traveling Memorial Wall, can attract a large number of cars. In the existing space, neighbors allow the farm to use its assets for additional parking.
The wish list for a new location includes indoor plumbing, a full kitchen, a personal area for visiting therapists, and most importantly, more indoor area for classrooms. These amenities would allow the nonprofit to serve veterans year-round, rather than just the warmer months. Until now, the Veterans Healing Farm has relied on local businesses, as well as a Foreign War Veterans Salon in Hendersonville, who generously shared their area during the colder months.
Staying in Henderson County is a priority. Yeck notes that Asheville has the Charles George VA transitional housing and emergency shelter and Veterans Restoration Rooms within the Asheville Buncombe Community Christian Ministry, but there are fewer resources for Henderson County veterans.
Kevin Rumley, a licensed clinical social worker and Marine Corps veteran, agrees that supporting veterans’ resilience in rural spaces is crucial. “Veterans in rural spaces would possibly have difficulty accessing care because of geographic distance and limited transportation options,” Rumley says. And rural communities have limited intellectual aptitude infrastructure, which exacerbates the problem. “
Rumley says rural spaces have “unique stressors similar to their transition from the military to civilian life,” such as social isolation and lack of employment opportunities.
Marine Corps veteran Daniel Conway adds, “When it comes to intellectual health, it’s very vital to provide help in a timely manner. . . To expect someone to take hours to get the facilities is to set them up for failure.
Conway also appreciates that Veterans Healing Farm incorporates veterans’ families. “Many times, the circle of family members forgets, but they also sacrifice and suffer a lot. It is very important to have an environment that allows the veteran and his or her circle of family members to heal.
The staff is positive about the location of your dream property. The community’s reaction to the announcement of the farm’s move was “huge,” Yeck said, pointing to the offices of U. S. Senators Thom Tillis and Ted Budd and U. S. Reps. Chuck Edwards (NC-11). , Jennifer Balkcom (NC-117) and Eric Ager (NC-114) reached out to them to ask how they could help. Yeck and Landreth have visited several homes in Henderson, Buncombe, Haywood and Transylvania counties, but none are a best match for them.
Staff continue to check homes and raise funds. “I don’t go past a Coca-Cola device without checking the farm replacement,” Yeck jokes. Although the farm has relied on grant writers in the past, there is now less in locating grants at this time because some grant application deadlines were already closed for the year, he explains.
“What I believe is that other people who can write six- or seven-figure checks need help, you just don’t need to use them,” Yeck says. “I’m looking to overcome those barriers and supply our 990 [IRS Form], provide monetary data, provide our plans, invite them. . . . Come see the farm, meet the veterans.
“We’ll give out any information,” Landreth said.
Yeck firmly believes that the “angels” will show up at the Veterans’ Healing Farm, locate a new home, and expand it. “We want little angels and big angels,” he says. They’re out there. We know they are. “
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