Veterans Healing Farm (VHF) started with the healing journey of one veteran, who had the vision to know that the most powerful healing lies in fully connecting with the larger community.
During John Mahshie’s first active duty assignment in the air force, his father died in a motorcycle accident. While on active duty struggling with his grief, he did a service mission in Mexico, where he helped plant a garden. The task brought so much peace and fulfillment during a difficult time ... Read More
Veterans Healing Farm (VHF) started with the healing journey of one veteran, who had the vision to know that the most powerful healing lies in fully connecting with the larger community.
During John Mahshie’s first active duty assignment in the air force, his father died in a motorcycle accident. While on active duty struggling with his grief, he did a service mission in Mexico, where he helped plant a garden. The task brought so much peace and fulfillment during a difficult time that he went back repeatedly to care for it.
Once discharged, Mahshie returned to Hendersonville, North Carolina, where he had grown up. He struggled for awhile with transitioning to a meaningful civilian life. Remembering the garden in Mexico, he started planting on his family’s land, and again found it brought great joy. Wanting to share that joy with a larger community, he decided to turn it into a healing farm for veterans.
His goal was to create a thriving community that fosters physical, emotional, and spiritual health for veterans and helps decrease the number of veteran suicides. The farm, launched in 2014, would provide an alternative to the isolation many veterans feel after leaving a close-knit military unit. A community of veterans and civilians quickly formed and created a beautiful and productive farm, but something was missing.
After some reflection, Mahshie realized that when they were in the military they had a clear sense of service to a larger cause. Donating produce to those in need was an excellent way to accomplish this - beneficial for those who received, and also for those who accomplished a worthy mission. VHF began produce donations at the VA Hospital in Asheville in 2016, and added free flower bouquets in 2017.
Offering workshops and Boot Camps in sustainable agriculture and holistic health was a natural outgrowth of farming together and donating produce as a community. VHF trainings began in 2017, providing a variety of skills that can help people in many ways - personal empowerment, physical health, access to nature, and the experience of nurturing and cultivating life.
ABC News 13 recognized Veterans Healing Farm in 2015 by awarding us first place in that year’s Charity Challenge, and later by choosing John Mahshie as a final nominee for the 2017 Person of the Year. John Mahshie also received the North Carolina State Veteran of the Year Award for 2018 from the Daughters of the American Revolution for founding VHF.
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