VETERANch

THE VISION

VETERANch will have a two-story barndominium, housing up to eight horses and eight studio apartments on the upper floor housing the eight veterans in charge of the therapy horse they are assigned to. Veterans will not only be helping other veterans but also taking care of the other animals making their home at VETERANch. On VETERANch, we will have a large aquaponics greenhouse that will grow the fruits and vegetables eaten and used by our cafeteria, as well as gardening therapy and greenery around veteran’s housing. VETERANch will have a community center building that will encompass the rest of the community activities and daily operations. This is where staff offices, kitchen and dining, maintenance, landscaping, motor pool, laundry, shipping and receiving will be located. Shops for metal and wood working and auto hobby for off time crafting and maintenance. Televisions for sports, gaming, movies and news and an indoor, outdoor projection theater located in the courtyard for new movie and off-site veteran outreach movie nights. These ideas will be further explained on later paragraphs.

Equine and Animal Assisted Therapy

VETERANch will have a 40X80 or 50X100 metal barndominium that will house up to eight horses and up to eight veterans, who will be responsible for the feeding, health and well being of horses, chickens and other animals that come to live at VETERANch. Veterans will build a mutual trust between themselves and the animals they care for. They will take care of the daily feeding and cleaning of the horse and its stall. PTS therapy programs indicate that this builds trust between the veteran and the horse while giving them purpose and responsibility of more than just themselves. At some point, there may be some light riding when the veteran and horse are comfortable enough with each other. The barn will have eight studio apartments above the horse stalls for the veterans who oversee the daily care of the horses. This is beneficial because if the veteran is having a PTS moment, they can just walk downstairs and interact with the horse they are working with and minimize the time and effect of their PTS. If it lasts more than a few moments, the option to grab a cot and rest right in the stall with the horse is possible. The veterans on the animal side of VETERANch will also take care of the chickens and turkeys in the coop that is also on the animal side. Veterans with accredited service animals are welcome to bring them. Emotional support animals are also welcome if our insurance does not deem them a dangerous breed dog and they are well mannered. All animals will be cleaned up after and all dogs must be well mannered enough that they do not not jump on people. This is so the support animal or veteran are not accidentally injured while on VETERANch.

 Homeless Veteran Village

Each night there are 37252 who are homeless and between 15,000 and 20,000, do not have any shelter of any kind. At VETERANch, we want to help shrink those statistics by providing mini duplex housing and sustenance for our nation’s homeless veterans on a equine and animal PTS therapy ranch. We want to help provide the tools and training necessary to become self-reliant and financially stable enough to leave VETERANch and be in their own home. We know and understand that this may take some time. Also, some veterans may have dependents living on the street with them and we can adjust our unit floor plan to accommodate children. It can also happen that some veterans may try to sabotage their progress in order to stay longer and we have thought of this too by looking into building long term housing on a corner of the acreage. Veterans living on VETERANch will have duties and responsibilities in order to give back and help fellow veterans. The whole concept of VETERANch only works as a group effort and we will assign them into the areas that they will be of the best help. Everywhere we have looked, just housing the homeless does not work without a management system and giving them responsibilities, purpose and community but so far, nothing at this size and scope has been done before and we do not know why? Donations to VETERANch will make it possible to house and provide sustenance to less fortunate homeless veterans residing at VETERANch. The veterans will in turn, will be providing the general maintenance, upkeep and cleaning of VETERANch and their housing. We will not be doing white glove inspections, but we do expect an amount of upkeep, cleanliness and that their bed be made daily and that they report any problems of their unit side of the duplex. Veterans that possess certain trade skills will be asked to utilize those skills in the appropriate sections of VETERANch and may be asked to train or teach other veterans in the skills they possess, so that they may get a job easier in the civilian sector. Administration, Barn and Animal, Greenhouse, Housing, Kitchen, Landscaping, Laundry, Maintenance, Motor Pool, Recreation, Shipping and Supply will be the major sections at VETERANch. Some sections will have subsections that branch out from the main section. We want VETERANch to be as self-reliant as possible and utilize as much green energy as we can. We feel that if we can do that, we can keep most of the operating costs lower while also growing the knowledge veterans have to market themselves into a growing green energy sector. In the future, veterans who complete the programs and want to stay on, will be moved to long term housing with supervisory and trainer positions so that they may help and train other veterans. We will encourage veterans that use the wood and metal crafting sections to create products during off time. Doing this enables them to sell their creations in the merchandise section of our website. This may also be the way they provide for themselves or start a business and end up leaving VETERANch.

 Wilderness Therapy

 Our hope in the future is to be able to provide other PTS therapy programs. We are looking for sites of 500+ acres to build VETERANch on. It is possible that we can have an onsite wilderness therapy program in the future. If not onsite, a light drive or hiking distance away. Veterans have responded well to wilderness therapy where they can ground themselves in nature and get away from stresses or routines. Wilderness therapy is much like camping and living off the land, while learning valuable coping and stress management skills. Many veterans have some sort of survival training with food and shelter management and this is proving to be beneficial therapy to veterans. Necessity of a wilderness therapy guide will depend on the veteran, depth and length of stay. One of the other benefits to having wilderness therapy on VETERANch is that we are close by, should an emergency arise.

Gardening Therapy 

Another study suggests gardening therapy as a PTS therapy program, At VETERANch, we will have a greenhouse to grow various edibles and flowers and we have even larger plans in the future that include aquaponics and fish management. Not only will we have the greenhouse but the gardens around the duplex units that will be grown and maintained by the veteran living there. We are looking towards seasonal and holiday contests that promote healthy competition, camaraderie and accomplishment while benefiting the overall appearance at VETERANch.

Morale and Recreation

 At VETERANch, morale and recreation will be just as important as the work is. Morale and recreation give veterans a chance to better connect with each other. It creates camaraderie, community and lets veterans unwind from daily stressors and connect with each other through shared activities and hobbies. These are some of the plans and suggestions for creating better bonds between veterans. A courtyard with fire pit and outdoor theater type screen. We want to provide movies and sports games on the big screen, but we want to offer movie nights to the outside veteran community. We can also spread the word about VETERANch and host open house events to the civilian population that are interested in helping homeless veterans and for the veterans who suffer from PTS. The courtyard will be landscaped with sod and complete with outdoor furniture and the composite deck around fire pit. Above and atop roof deck seating for movies or entertainment. Other outdoor activities will include horseshoe and bocce pits and, in the future, look at putting a basketball, badminton, tennis multi-court. Multiple recreation rooms off the dining facility to include e-gaming, billiards and darts, movie and TV series room and news in the dining area. Bow and rifle hunting trips as well as river and stream fishing trips will be considered in the future as veterans interest arises. Wood and Metal crafting and fabrication shop for veterans who have interest in this as a hobby or want to create items to sell on the VETERANch website. This also may interest veterans who want to consider this a trade that they can expand into as a business opportunity.