When the founding members of Veterans Empowered Together (VET) created the organization in 2021, their mission was to serve as a group of veterans helping other veterans in the community. Their latest venture is a partnership with The Bridges Program, providing equine therapy services to active duty military personnel, their families, and local veterans.
The Bridges Program is operated by Misty Wathen-Baker and is located at 6540 Todd Bridge Road. It also provided equine therapy services to other outside agencies.
“We started a partnership [with VET] to create funding and to be able to create opportunities for veterans who may need the service,” Wathen-Baker said. “They have been working on grants as well to make that happen, and it does not cost the veterans any money.”
Wathen-Baker became certified in the Eagala model for equine assisted psychotherapy in 2007 and worked with her first client in 2008. She said Eagala is considered to be more of a short-term, client-led therapeutic approach.
“This is a very different approach, but if you give it a couple of weeks, you will start to see how it all ties together,” Wathen-Baker said. “It really isn’t about the obstacle, it’s about what you learn about yourself as you go through this process with the horse.”
According to Wathen-Baker, the horses’ keen senses help them to be very effective in assisting veterans who have experienced trauma, PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder), and suicidal ideation.
As chairman of the board for Eagala’s board of directors, Wathen-Baker was able to advocate for an adaptive sports grant that created money to be used for veterans and their families to receive services using the Eagala model.
“I reached out to VET to see how we could partner together so veterans can receive services with the VA (US Dept. of Veteran Affairs) or outside the VA,” Wathen-Baker said, adding that she is excited to partner with VET through grants and other funding sources. “The VET program is doing such a powerful job of bringing resources to others, they really are. They are boots on the ground for our service members here, which is wonderful.”
VET board members Brian Basham and Jared Spurrier said The Bridges Program is just one of several community partnerships they are working on in order to help “provide additional opportunities to assist local veterans.”
“When we say we’re veterans serving veterans, we’re putting that into action,” Basham said.
In addition to equine therapy, VET has entered into an agreement with Higdon Therapeutic Services, LLC, which is veteran-owned and operated by Jon C. Higdon, LCSW. He provides clinical outpatient services to veterans referred by VET who are in crisis and are not receiving services from the VA, and who do not have access to private insurance.
One of the primary goals VET has is to identify specific gaps in essential needs they feel are not currently being met by the VA. According to Spurrier, the current average number of days for the VA to process a claim is 102.2. Taking into account the complexity of each veteran’s specific injuries, needs, and disabilities, it can take months to years to collect all of the evidence needed to verify a claim. By developing targeted programs and community partnerships, VET hopes to bridge the gap and ensure that “veterans receive the support they need and deserve.”
“In the military we have a motto, we say, ‘No man left behind,’” Spurrier said. “The purpose of the motto is to make sure every single soldier was accounted for post battle. Veterans Empowered Together pledges to leave no veteran behind on the battlefield of life after their service.”
In another effort to further connect with the community, VET is currently preparing for their second year sponsoring the Military Ball at the Owensboro Convention Center. The ball will be held on November 17 at 6 p.m. Everyone is welcome to attend, and veterans and active duty military members are admitted for free. Tickets are on sale through November 3 and are available at VET Military Ball.
