HEDGESVILLE, W.Va – Sen. Shelley Moore Capito met with veterans and VA officials Monday morning at the Geezer Ridge farm to see how the program "West Virginia Warriors and Veterans to Agriculture" is working in her state.
“Well, what I'm interested in is helping our veterans who have laid their lives on the line, and many of them have come home with PTSD and other mental health issues, and we're trying to figure out the best therapies," Capito said.
The program allows vets to take part in different activities including raising crops, raising cattle and beekeeping as forms of therapy.
Nicholas Priet served in Iraq and suffers from PTSD, but he said beekeeping has changed his life for the better.
“I went from 100 percent service connected sitting in my house - 'I don't have a job, I don't know what I'm going to do everyday' - to having a purpose and being able to have the confidence to stand among a group of people and to speak to a group of people...," Priet said.
James McCormick founded the program. He said there are nearly 250 veterans involved.
"We knew how to be life-takers, but we're learning to be life-makers, and it just gives you a little bit of yourself each time you do that," McCormick said.