♪ MUSIC ♪
MANGRUM: At that particular time in my life, I was drinking,
and drinking very heavy, so I came up here to see whether
or not I can get some assistance from the VA,
and they were all too eager to help me.
MANGRUM: OK, we can remove these, uh, stems here because
they're gonna be down into the soil, so when you see 'em like
this just pull 'em off and put 'em down in there.
MANGRUM: I've always had an interest in gardening and
farming because I came from a farm originally via Virginia
to Newark. Newark Housing Authority had a project where
they would send Veterans and senior citizens to this master gardening course.
And I went there and it was kinda easy for me due to the
fact that I had originally came from a farm and I knew a lot
of things, but the technical aspects I wasn't aware of.
It's been a privilege for me to share some of the information
and stuff that I learned from the master gardening course.
When we showed some of the Veterans some of these things
who never knew what a seed was about and other things
right there, like i said, it was a privilege
to pass this knowlege on to 'em.
ROWE: Thurston is a certified Rutgers master gardener and then
he started to to some work here at the VA, to just do the
handling of a certain courtyard here. OK, "I want to plant some
things-- is that OK with with the VA?"
They said "yes." The program started to grow.
Thurston continued on the grounds here. He has been doing
the gardening, the raise beds, and he worked really hard
with the VA administration to get a grant to build
this greenhouse. And so, Thurston is the crew chief,
he is the boss of the greenhouse, he makes everything
happen, he knows what to order he knows what needs to be done.
Without Thurston, this program would not be here today.
THURSTON: My main goal was sobriety.
And when you're working with seeds, and plants, and stuff,
it gives you the ability to reflect back on what
brought you here. I've been sober for eight years
and this particular program here and this gardening aspect
had a lot do with it.
I didn't have to battle this out in the streets or anything,
so that's one of the main things that I've accomplished.
THURSTON: It's stronger and basically,
that's it in transplanting.
MANGRUM: Hopefully, a lot of our guys have taken this
experience on and did other things with it. Ya know? A lot
of guys goin' out to the community getting jobs of
cutting grass and this particular program that we have
here, some of the guys is gonna go out there
and get landscaping jobs, ya know?
HANKINSON: The goal is not only to have a healthy community,
in terms of the environment on our grounds,
but the surrounding community. And he said, "The whole idea
of being a master gardener has been so significant to my
recovery that I'd like to see that support be provided
for other Veterans. I'd like to see us offering a master
gardener course here on the campus and I'd like to be a part
of mentoring other Veterans who might find this as helpful
to their recovery." So the approach was different.
Now, the Veterans saw an opportunity in the case of
Thurston to really come forward and say, "This is what I need
and it's worked for my recovery."--
and the team really supported his efforts--
"and I think this might help other people."
♪ MUSIC ♪
MARTIN: I battled a little bit of depression and I stay at
home--I'm a stay-at-home mom-- and so the opportunity to
change my lifestyle with eating different and having excercise
was really exciting to me 'cause it gave me
something to do with my time.
SAXON: So the title of our class today, as we're jumping in,
is gonna be focusing on slips, not stebacks.
So that's gonna be our general theme...
MARTIN: Well, I've been at the Polk clinic for almost two years now.
When I met with Audrina she sent me out to MOVE! and then they
had the Fortitude program come up and I'm also doing
that as well. And from today I've lost eight pounds,
theree inches in my waist, and my favorite part is that
now I have--wait a minute--guns.
SAXON: My hope is that our Veterans see this as being
more collaborative in nature--really being more
empathic and compassionate providers and really wanting
to help them achieve their life goals rather than it being a goal
that we dictate for them because that's gonna have much
greater relevance for them in their day-to-day lives.
MARTIN: This has really changed everything about my life.
Um, my husband--he's a truck driver-- and he's on the
road all the time. He's a very big guy, and he's
started to make changes. He's actually come to yoga with us.
And, I mean, he's a big, big guy--6-foot-5, 370 pounds,
like a linebacker--but he did yoga and he was really excited.
My daughters come to yoga with me
My daughters done the running, the wieghtlifting
classes with us. And we've changed how we buy food.
We don't go to Costco and buy the 30-pound bag of Cheetos anymore.
MARTIN: I am a cheetos addict so instead of buying the big bags,
I bought the little ones for my daughter's lunch size,
so I'm only doin' the hundred and fifty calories.
SAXON: Right, it's not an open bag to tempt you
in the cabinet, right? Exactly. So, that's another
really great idea: is thinking off...
SAXON: Well, you know, a lot of the times when I say,
"What really matters to you," they'll say,
"Well of course my health matters" 'cause their
physicians who's referred them to me--often has to do with
taking care of other people and it's really hard for them
to put their health first when they're concered about others.
And so, being able to recognize that, when we say,
"What do you want," and that's a bigger
picture than just focusing on a disease state.
MARTIN: My doctor and my nursing staff here at the clinic
have really listened to me. Originally, they just put me in
the MOVE! program, but then they heard about the Fortitude
program and how they just thought that might be
a solution for me. So, they called me and invited me to join
this program. And I was really excited and I really embraced it
because they thought of me instead of me having to reach
out and say, "Is there anything you can give me
to help me with?" And so, I was really honored to be put
in the program and I've really benefited
from being in the group.
♪ MUSIC ♪
KINGSLEY: (singing) Some say love, it is a river that drowns..
I was injured in the line of duty. So I was stationed
aboard an aircraft carrier and, ya know, I fell, during a drill
I fell 15 feet into a catwalk and my back broke,
and that was, like, 17 years ago.
(singing)...it is a hunger, and endless, aching need.
But I say love, it is a river that drowns the tender reed.
KINGSLEY: Music therapy has become really special to me.
Cynthia has reopened my eyes to just why I love music so much.
Ya know? She's been great, as far as, just with everything.
I mean, we sit, talk, and laugh and, ya know, we can talk
about anything basically. She's opened my eyes to see that
music is such an expression from all the emotions,
from up and down, when you're in a good mood ro when you're in a
bad mood, or all in between, ya know? And the music therapy
program has been great. And I'm real grateful that
that I've had the chance to, ya know, experience it.
MOORE: When you have someone hospitalized for a period
of time, ya know, they're stressed out, they have to find
a way to cope with what's goin' on and they don't
have an avenue to express those emotions.
And so with someone like Matt, who loves music, it really
becomes easy because you can use the music, ya know,
whether you were doing something like we did with taking
his actual emotions and putting the words down on paper
and incorporating them into a song, versus just singing
some other songs that express similar emotions.
It's a really good avenue for emotional expression,
and coping, and stress managment for most of these guys.
KINGSLEY: Sometimes we don't even have a singing
session, ya know? We'll just talk about what's been goin' on
and she's just a great listener and I'm just, ya know,
I'm glad that she's here, ya know, she's been really good.
MOORE: When you're looking at, ya know, not what's wrong with
you, but, ya know, how can you actually, ya know, take control
of what's goin' on and transform that into "let's, you know,
get better, let's get back on your feet," it really helps
with the music because you can use it in a lot of different
ways--some conventional and traditional,
and some very nontraditional.
MOORE: (singing)...as it is, keep going...
KINGSLEY: But when the music comes in and Cynthia walks
in with her big smile and, you know, right away, you know, even
if I'm in pain or if I'm hurtin' or, ya now, whatever it is I'm
goin' through--even it could be somethin' that's emotional
for me--the music just kinda takes it away.
MOORE: (singing)...the fight, yeah, as hard as it is, keep going...
Im'a give it to you this time.
KINGSLEY: (singing)...give up the fight, no we won't,
give up the fight...keep going...
keep going on, going on.
♪ MUSIC ♪