Hooked on healing: program helps Pueblo's disabled veterans build community through fishing

Some disabled veterans in Pueblo are receiving a helping hand in their healing journeys from dedicated volunteers teaching them to fish and taking them on outings in the great outdoors.

It all started in 2007 when a group of veterans met in the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center parking lot in Washington, D.C., to learn how to cast fly rods.

From that gathering, Project Healing Waters was born. Today, the nonprofit group’s largest chapter out of 230 worldwide is its Colorado Springs and Pueblo chapter, said project lead Alan Boatz.

Boatz pointed out that the local group has even outgrown the Denver chapter, which is the second-largest in the world.

“We have more than 400 participants and have grown by 100 this year alone,” Boatz said. “I think it is a sign of the post-COVID era because people are willing to engage a lot more.”

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When dedicated volunteer Ken Willard moved to Pueblo earlier this year, he helped expand the program here with the help of Pueblo’s Veteran’s Administration Community Living Center. They started with a casting clinic much like the one at Walter Reed and last week took four veterans on a trip to Rainbow Falls Mountain Trout Inc. in Woodland Park where they “had a ball,” Willard said.

“One guy caught 14 fish and said he had not caught that many fish in his entire life,” Willard said with a laugh.

The aim of the program is to help “physically and mentally heal our wounded warriors and disabled veterans,” Boatz said. “The approach is to get them out of isolation and into a social situation with a safety net of like-minded people.”

“I’ve had more than one person look me in the eye and say, 'This program saved my life,'” Willard said. “I love it when you are out on the river and you can hear hoots and hollers all up and down the river — this program is pure genius.”

Many of the veterans who participate have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or have suffered traumatic brain injuries, so the therapeutic aspect is to help them focus and concentrate on other things and “take their minds off what PTSD does to them.” Boatz said.

“Isolation can take you very ugly places. When they served, these guys were together and called each other brothers and all of a sudden you flip a switch and they don’t have that,” Boatz explained.

Often the veterans don’t want to talk or socialize but when they get in small group settings with the powerful added leverage of the beauty of nature, they begin to open up.

“Some don’t do crowds or loud noises well so we go where there are no crowds," Willard said.

He said watching the veterans developing friendships and arranging fishing outings with their newfound buddies is "one of the greatest things I’ve seen happen."

Donations and volunteers keep the program going

The program is funded by donations and fundraisers like online auctions. Volunteers are not paid but they undergo training that helps them maximize safety for the participants.

Oftentimes the veterans mature along with the program and end up becoming volunteers themselves.

“That’s the sign of a healthy program that has addressed the healing needs of participants who then want to give back as volunteers. We have more than 70 in our program who started out as participants,” Boatz explained.

The program is free to all participants and Project Healing Waters supplies everything they need.

Since the program runs year-round, the focus turns to learning to tie flies and social fly-tying nights during the colder months. Participants get all the materials, a vice grip and magnifying glass so they can take the supplies home and continue on their own.

Pueblo has the distinction of hosting the first all-ladies fishing trip in April and another is scheduled for this week in Breckenridge. Willard's goal is to reach out to veterans in smaller communities like Florence, Canon City and La Junta.

To find out more about the program, go to the Project Healing Waters - Colorado Springs Facebook page.

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Chieftain reporter Tracy Harmon covers business news. She can be reached by email at tharmon@chieftain.com or via Twitter at twitter.com/tracywumps.

This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Project Healing Waters helps Pueblo's disabled veterans through fishing