One blazing hot day last week, U.S. Sen. Patty Murray toured a farm at 17601 Southeast Lake Moneysmith Road.
There she saw and heard what Growing Veterans, a local organization working on behalf of veterans, has been doing for its comrades in arms since its 2012 founding.
Inspecting a field of veteran-grown crops, Murray listened intently as John Knox, regional and grants coordinator of Growing Veterans, explained how in 2015 alone, 500 veterans and volunteers sweating under the Washington sun produced 32,000 pounds of food, which the organization distributed through its farmers market stand at the regional VA Hospital in Seattle.
And how in 2015, the organization donated 6,200 pounds of organic vegetables to low-income veterans, to local food banks and to organizations that feed the homeless.
And how Growing Veterans combines veteran reintegration with sustainable agriculture, addressing the growing desire for alternative therapies for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), traumatic brain injuries and suicide prevention through peer-support and applied suicide intervention skills training certification.
“About 25 percent of veterans are in Washington state,” Knox said, “and a large part of them are self-described, self-reporting, combat-deployed, service-connected disabled. So, there is that aspect of decreasing the stigma of seeking help and mental health counseling so we can actually come here and be in the dirt, be in the great outdoors, shoulder to shoulder, giving support in a veteran-to-veteran network. So it’s really breaking down doors, paving the way to break down barriers and get people doing productive work.”
Later, in the cool, welcome shade of a maple tree, Murray heard veterans explain what drew them to the organization, and why they believe so strongly in its mission.
Very impressive, the high-ranking Democratic senator later said in brief remarks to a sun-baked assemblage.
“Being here today reminds me of exactly what we are fighting for back in what I call ‘the other Washington,'” Murray said, “and that is making sure we get the right kind of care for our men and women in the military and their families who sacrifice so much for all of us.
“We all know that there are a lot of people hurting, and although we have made some progress in caring for our veterans, we have a lot of work left to do to make sure we’re truly taking care of those who have served us, whether it’s the physical or mental scars of their service,” Murray said.
None of that is abstract to Murray.
As the daughter of a World War II veteran and Purple Heart winner, and herself a one-time intern at the Seattle VA, Murray has a history of working on veterans’ issues. Indeed, she was the first woman to chair the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee.
Back in that “other Washington,” Murray has thrown herself behind passage of the bipartisan Veterans First Act, an omnibus package tooled to sharpen accountability at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and improve veterans’ health care and benefits.
Among the act’s goals:
• Expand to all generations of veterans the VA’s Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers and expand the services for caregivers to include financial planning and legal services.
• Require the VA to put in place improvements to the Caregivers Program, including implementing an information technology system that fully supports the program.
• Make it easier for the VA’s mental health services to hire mental health professionals.
• Address the crisis of opioid over-prescription among veterans by increasing the availability of medication to counter effects of opioid overdoses.
It is vitally important, Murray said, to do something with all the information research has revealed in the last years about the significance of PTSD.
“But we can’t stop there. We have to do something with that information. And I am very proud that all of you here with Growing Veterans, from the founders to the families, are really making a difference,” Murray said.
