Group uses gardening to help veterans' PTSD
June is National PTSD Awareness Month, and its goal is to raise awareness about post-traumatic stress disorder and the healing tools available for individuals who have PTSD.
In Chicago, at the Eddie Beard Vet House, a model program is under way by the Deerfield-based United Relief Foundation to provide the health and wellness tools to help veterans nourish their mind, body and spirit.
The Eddie Beard Vet House serves as a transitional housing environment model for the United Relief Foundation's Helping Heroes Heal horticultural-holistic program, which offers veterans an engaging environment.
Central to the program is a vegetable garden, offering stress relief and an opportunity for veterans to engage with each other, creating a sense of belonging and connectedness while also providing a source of physical exercise and nutritious food. The program blends horticultural benefits with holistic well-being techniques that veterans can use in their everyday lives.
United in the service of veterans is Inner Voice Chicago, providing the facilities and staff to engage the veterans residing at the Eddie Beard Vet House, and Lincolnwood Illinois, URB Inc. President Brian Urbanowski supplying the funding to complete the program's development.
The United Relief Foundation is a nonprofit 501(c) (3) humanitarian aid organization dedicated to doing good deeds that make a difference in the lives of the men and women who served in the United States Armed Forces.
For more information, visit unitedrelieffoundation.org.
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