Montana nonprofit helping veterans heal from trauma receives major grant
A Montana nonprofit that helps veterans heal from trauma is receiving a huge boost. The hope is that it will allow the organization to help even more veterans.
Bozeman, Mont — A Montana nonprofit that helps veterans heal from trauma is receiving a huge boost. The hope is that it will allow the organization to help even more veterans.
Over 3,000 acres of land, with horses everywhere you look. At one ranch near Virginia City, just south of Bozeman, organizers offer a 41-day program for combat veterans.
“When the guys come here, we don't have answers for them, right? The answers that they have are in here, they're in themselves, and we provide, through the tools -- the wilderness, the horses -- we provide those tools so that they can look inside themselves,” Heroes and Horses chief financial officer Mark Davis said.
Started in 2014 by a former Navy Seal, Heroes and Horses is a challenging experience. The days start early, as participants learn how to ride and care for horses while working on a ranch.
On top of that, there’s a meditation regimen along with an anti-inflammatory, whole-food diet. It all leads to an 11-day pack trip and a day hike up Mount Sacajawea outside Bozeman.
“Many of us don't have struggles in our own lives, and we look for struggles, right? We run marathons, we do triathlons, we climb mountains, because we believe through that, we'll be able to see inside ourselves and see what's really in there, and that's what we do with the guys who come to this program. We provide those struggles so that they can look inside,” Davis said.
Now, a $500,000 grant from the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust will allow Heroes and Horses to expand its programming. The money will be used to help build new facilities, including cabins, indoor gyms and a lodge.
“We’ll hopefully be clearing land for that in the fall of 2023 for construction to start in early 2024,” Heroes and Horses development director Chloe Garrison said.
Right now, the program only runs in the summer months, but the new facilities will allow it to operate year-round. Organizers say the demand is there.
"We received 149 applications last year, and we're only able to accept 24 students, so the interest is there now. It's just up to us to step up to start to meet that demand through these projects,” Garrison said.
Graduates of the program call it a life-changing experience.
“The guys who come here obviously have given so much to this country that it's sort of the least we can do is to help them come back and reintegrate back into society,” Davis said.
