Giving Back!

"Finding Peace

from

the Hidden Battle "

Mission

Our mission is to mentor veterans while providing farming opportunity in safe and supportive environments where they can achieve wellness themselves and produce healthy food for our nation.

Why VETREST?

Currently, about twenty-two veterans a day take their lives (which doesn't include from Texas and California who don't report their stats). In 2015, 475 current serving Active Duty, Reservists and National Guardsmen committed suicide—greater than one per day.

“That's a suicide every 65 minutes . . . Nearly one in five suicides nationally is a veteran, even though veterans make up about 10% of the U.S. population.” We know from research that there is clear linkage between veterans suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress (PTS) and suicide.

Therefore, if we can identify the cause of a veteran’s PTS and provide direct coaching help, there is a strong probability that we can eliminate suicides. Simply stated, we need VetREST to save veterans’ lives!

How we

started

After a cumulative period of receiving daily emails of Soldier suicides, MG (RET) Daniel York (USAR) put a plan in motion to stem the problem by addressing what is recognized as often a contributing issue—Post-Traumatic Stress (PTS) and the suffering it brings into the lives of so many Veterans.

“According to recent studies over 300,000 veterans experience PTS and it is estimated that approximately 20% of over two million service members who deployed will develop PTSD.”

Four West Point graduates collectively provided the initial funding. VetREST launched with the intent of helping Vets address their challenges with a goal of finding peace from their hidden battles.

Chapters

We currently operate in:

Portland, OR & Vancouver, WA
Atlanta, & Saint Marys, GA
Zolfo Springs, FL
New York City/New Jersey

Our Strategy

VetREST's goal is to help struggling Veterans by providing gardening and farming jobs in safe environments in order to grow healthy food for America.

The FIRST AND MOST IMPORTANT LINE is Training.
The SECOND LINE is establishing HEALTHY LIVING. These lines of efforts are put into action through the creation of chapters across the country.

Post Traumatic Stress

is not a new thing!

In WWII we called it shell shock . . Studies indicate that three factors are necessary for PTS to develop.

1. A person possesses certain risk factors for the condition. “Changes in two brain areas the amygdala and the dorsal anterior cingulated cortex (dACC) may predispose people . . Both of these regions are involved in feeling and expressing fear, and both appear to be overactive in people . . . even before they develop the condition.”

2. A person is exposed to a traumatic event such as: combat exposure, sexual or physical assault, terrorist attack, serious accident, natural disasters. It is common for people to experience stress-related reactions after a traumatic event; but, not everyone will get PTS. It is still not known why. Some contributing factors are:

How intense the trauma was or how long it lasted
If you were injured or lost someone important to you
How close you were to the event
How strong your reaction was
How much you felt in control of events
How much help and support you got after the event

3. Changes to the brain occur after the traumatic event. “Experiencing a traumatic event may impair the connection between the hippocampus and ventromedial prefrontal cortex needed for fear extinguishing to occur.”