Serving in the United States Armed Forces comes with plenty of perks. Travel comes with the job, and men and women receive incredible job training and acquire skill sets they will carry for the rest of their lives.
But some military personnel have horrible experiences that haunt them long after they retire from service.
Greg Hopkins, who founded the Veterans Homestead Project near Durango with his partner Edit Aquarian, said that serving in the Armed Forces comes with the risk of being confronted with “the worst of what humankind has to offer.”
Veterans young and old experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder might feel tempted to buy “40 acres and a mule” and isolate themselves from society, he said. But that’s not necessarily healthy. It’s not functional either.
The Veterans Homestead Project was created to reinstate purpose in former service members’ lives, to empower them and give them even more new sets of skills that will benefit them, their families and communities.
Despite the rugged or hardy visage of Hopkins’ and Aquarians’ farm, where cattle skulls, ribs and other bones leftover from composting litter the property, the project discourages “prepper” or “survivalist” thinking.
“That’s fear-based living,” Hopkins said. “That’s how post-traumatic stress disorder is developed.”
He said PTSD is born from an overriding fear of being killed, a feeling that can warp civilian situations into war zones. That feeling serves its purpose in a combat environment, but not so often in civilian life.
“This cycle of adrenaline, anxiety and depression kind of all go hand-in-hand with coming back and having to integrate back into society,” he said.
The Veterans Homestead Project focuses on farming and ranching, composting, raising goats, producing cheese, developing the farm and maintaining the greenhouse, plus a slew of other chores.
The farm features a U.S. Food and Drug Administration-certified goat dairy, barn and commercial kitchen, and a 102-foot geothermal heated greenhouse that grows lemons, limes, kiwis, tomatoes and more.
Prospective veteran homesteaders learn how to make bread and cheese, preserve food, butcher meat, grow vegetables, or other crafts that catch their interest, all free of charge.
Hopkins said the farm work is “good for the soil and good for the soul.”
Farming isn’t easy, but just like serving in the Armed Forces, it has its own perks.
“Digging hands in organic soil has really made a big difference for me,” Hopkins said. “ … This gives you a set of skills, a sense of responsibility for taking care of the plants you’re growing or the animals you’re raising.”
For Hopkins, regenerative agriculture is a key aspect of the farm. He said modern commercial agriculture takes too much from the soil without putting anything back into it.
“If we’re not putting things back into the soil in the form of manure, then we’re depleting the soil, which can end up with erosion,” he said. “And probably, most likely, a lot of the dust bowl era was due to mismanaged agriculture.”
The Veterans Homestead Project rears goats and harvests dairy to make cheeses. The goats graze Hopkins’ and Aquarians’ six acres as well as neighboring properties, mitigating weeds and fertilizing the soil with their droppings as they go.
Hopkins said that sort of holistic land management benefits the soil, livestock and wildlife, humans and the planet. And getting hands-on with the work is good for veterans’ health.
Joe Fuenzilda, a 36-year-old veteran, has studied permaculture and worked with Hopkins on the farm through the project. He said he appreciates Hopkins’ approach to land management.
Fuenzilda joined the U.S. Army in 2007. He entered into the first battalion 75th Ranger Regiment until he left the Army in 2013. He was stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2010 and 2011, respectively. Although he started as an infantryman, he took a liking to emergency medical services work and tried to become an army medic, but missed his opportunity.
For Fuenzilda, the symbiosis of goats and soil, produce and composting and other factors on Hopkins’ farm reflects the strength of having a community.
“You're taught to stop, observe your environment,” he said of permaculture. “ … It's the same thing with relationships in the community. If I can take in my environment and see what these people have to offer, instead of what I think is wrong with them - when really, there's a bunch of stuff wrong with me - and see how we can complement each other.”
He said the Veterans Homestead Project is a “total mesh” of managing land, property and relationships, and practicing the art of thinking before acting.
JD Sutton, a Marine Corps infantry veteran who served from 1999-2003, said he was never involved in direct combat, but he suffered injuries during special forces training. He blew out his knees and busted his back, and by the time he exited the military he’d sustained hearing loss in his left ear.
Sutton lives west of Durango and has started his own farm with the help of Hopkins, Aquarian and the Veterans Homestead Project. Sutton, his wife Ashley and their two children are raising four goats, three pigs, 18 chickens, two turkeys and two Hungarian sheepdogs that keep bears and mountain lions at bay.
He connected with Hopkins and Aquarian about two years ago after moving to the Durango area. Hopkins taught him how to compost and raise goats, and he is currently helping Sutton build a barn to store hay.
Hopkins said many veterans feel a strong sense of community when they’re around each other because they’ve been through similar things and understand each other.
Sutton shared the sentiment. He said working with other vets through the Veterans Homestead Project gives him a sense of focus, which helps him deal with post-military life.
“We've helped (Hopkins and Aquarian) with their barn and Greg comes out and helps me, and we play racquetball a lot,” he said. “And then, hanging out with some other military guys. … We just tend to bond, you know, better in that way.”
Hopkins, Fuenzilda and Sutton all independently said Aquarian is the heart and soul at the center of the Veterans Homestead Project.
“She’s like an advocate for every human that she meets, especially veterans,” Fuenzilda said. “She's always bringing up business ideas and trying to get you hooked, trying to get you to change your life, trying to, you know, help you in any way she can.”
cburney@durangoherald.com
