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The Soldier's House: A Letter From Charlie

This season for renewal and growth frames an excellent time to reach out to beautiful Fremont County and its wonderful people with some updates and news from The Soldier’s House. Growth is in word in many ways. To start, let me point out that the third season of plantings in the new Peace Garden has commenced. In the garden we like to say “I’d rather be a warrior in a garden, than a gardener in a war”, or at least one of our favorite warriors, Tim Thomas has often said this to me. Tim was on hand planting rows of his native corn mix.  Four other volunteers prepared beds, irrigation and planted many vegetables. Big shouts out to Katie Peay, and Leon Carter for their continued involvement.

 
The structure of the garden is now becoming pretty evident, almost all the pathways are in and the shade structure is taking shape. The fruit trees fared well through the winter and the farm stand awaits produce as it comes this summer and fall. The intention of the garden is twofold; grow produce for veterans in our community, and create a tranquil space for both garden work and relaxation. We are planting herbs and other plants that are known to generate calming and peaceful vibes that we hope will infuse us all and support our grateful and happy states of mind. And as always, the heavy lifting of this project going on three years now has been provided by Shamu, Dewy, and Jennifer W. Thank you guys so much for all you continue to do!  Look for some fund raising/garden support opportunities to be posted soon from Jennifer. These could include benches, monument stones and plaques that could commemorate a certain veteran’s contributions or a family or individual who might simply wish to express their support for all that our veterans have given to this community. 

Other topics to cover quickly with opportunities for further reading elsewhere include the Spring News Letter where you can read many updates including a story of a local veteran’s crisis that had a positive outcome. I believe this punctuates an important role that all veteran organizations serve, regardless of size; that is to be a source of human support when things are falling apart for a person, and they might lose track of bigger pictures and better future possibilities. We can all do this together, but it works best when a relationship gets established early, and the resource is in place. It was my hope in writing this piece for the Community Foundation that our residents across Fremont County might be inspired to put forward their support both financially and by joining our volunteer base.
 
And speaking of financial support, I would like to remind all that TSH has been a 501c-3 for going on four years and is in our third year of participating in the Lander Community Foundation’s Challenge for Charities matching fund raiser this July 4. This is a great way to bump up your contribution as the Foundation does a match on your contribution (a percentage determined based on their fund-raising efforts). To date this has been our top fundraiser! Here is a link to contribute. It is our vision to raise (or earn if we might create an endowment) an annual amount enough to hire a three quarters to full time director. This person would organize our volunteer base, our current programs (Wellness, Home Support, and Food Security) and be involved in the expansion of our veteran’s activities programming. If you would like to explore supporting us, or have skills in this department, please reach out!
 
And finally, I would like to remind you of our ongoing services and some exciting new ideas and offerings. We continue to offer free, unlimited, and confidential psychotherapeutic support for all veterans and their families. The veteran’s AA group has grown and meets weekly at TSH Tuesdays at noon. We have been supporting bicycling for veterans in a partnership with Gannet Peak Sports in Lander. There a veteran can “check out” a rental bicycle for themselves and a friend for a day of fun riding around Lander on one of the many mountain bike trails in the area. This Summer and Fall TSH has been working to partner with the creators of a documentary film featuring local veterans and are excited to share the dates here for the screening of the trailer and post screening panel discussion featuring some of the veterans. TSH plans to have a representative at each of the screenings and will be soliciting veteran involvement in our Veteran’s Needs Questionnaire -our current project to help us get the best sense of what the veterans here in Fremont County (and a bit beyond) would like to see in terms of services and opportunities.

 Well, maybe that was not quite so brief.  But you are still reading which means you, like us, hold gratitude for veterans and care deeply about their wellbeing and their continued contributions to our great towns and communities. Thank you for reading and for your past and future support. And as always thank you to the veterans, all who gave so that we can enjoy the opportunities this country offers to all.

Sincerely,
Charlie Wilson MA, LMFT
Co-Founder of The Soldier’s House of Fremont County