A northwoods organization is giving veterans and their families a new way to seek solace from daily stresses with a quiet getaway surrounded by animals and picturesque scenery, free of charge.
Since 2015, Wounded Warriors United of Wisconsin has provided resources and community to veterans in the state. Three years ago, founders Otto and Vicki Reetz took their mission one step further by selling their New London home and buying a hobby farm in Gleason. Country Haven Farm offers a dedicated space for veterans to decompress, enhanced by the natural beauty of northern Wisconsin.
In an interview on “Morning Edition,” Vickie Reetz told WPR’s Shereen Siewert the farm offers a comforting atmosphere that fosters connection and a sense of calm. For the couple, the venture is a way to repay a debt to service members who have given so much to their country.
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“These guys and women have really done more, and have seen more, than I think you and I imagine or want to know,” Vickie Reetz told Siewert. “And it’s really important that they have outlets. I can’t emphasize enough how important it is.”
The farm’s centerpiece is a 35-foot deluxe travel trailer where veterans can stay either alone, with family members or with other veterans. The retreat is an effort to support Wisconsin veterans facing the unique struggles that can come with life after service.
Visitors to Country Haven Farm are invited to relax, explore nearby trails or take part in light farm chores. The property is home to a variety of animals, including pygmy and fainting goats, Mangalitsa pigs, Scottish Highland cows, and miniature donkeys, each offering a warm welcome to guests. A visit can be scheduled by contacting Wounded Warriors United of Wisconsin directly.
The following interview was edited for brevity and clarity.
Shereen Siewert: Describe what a typical experience might look like for a veteran at Country Haven Farm.
Vickie Reetz: We’re out in the middle of nowhere on a hobby farm, formerly a heritage dairy farm. People can come out and find peace and quiet, and as much lively entertainment as they would like. We’ve got UTVs that they can use to go trail riding because the farm is on a trail, and we’ve got Scottish Highland cows, with a brand new baby that was born two weeks ago. We’ve got miniature donkeys and goats. A lot of the vets like to come and just kind of chill and hang out with the animals. It’s just very calming. If you’ve never spent the morning with coffee and a donkey, it’s awesome. At night the sky is big, the stars are out. It’s just a really nice place to be.
SS: Tell me how this all began and what inspired you to start.
VR: The organization is in its 10th year. We started after Otto went on a bear hunt in Minnesota and happened to be out there with a group of veterans. He saw how the guys were talking and enjoying the camaraderie among each other and talking about their challenges in trying to get back into the outdoors.
We discussed it, and decided we really want to give back. It started with one fishing trip with six vets, and now we are taking hundreds of vets out on the water and close to 100 a year on hunting trips all over the country. We cover all the expenses, so it never costs them anything. The farm was an afterthought. Three years ago, we wanted to do more because we work with so many vets who have anxiety. I don’t want to just use the umbrella of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, because it’s anxiety, it’s all different kinds of things.
We decided to sell our home in New London and bought the hobby farm. We have a 35-foot motor home, and we just figured why not provide a place for veterans to come where they don’t have to worry about paying to get away for a week. They don’t have to go to a loud resort. They go fishing, they can go hunting. We’ve got a boat they can use if they want, or we’ll take them out ourselves. We’ve got guides that we can set them up with, so it’s just something that Otto and I want to do to give back. We’ve got some volunteers that help us do that as well.
SS: What influence has this experience had on you personally?
VR: I am not a vet. Otto is not a vet. The more time I spend with these guys and women, the more I come to understand that what they’ve seen and gone through doesn’t always stay where they were. It comes home, and a lot of them have a really hard time shaking it. When we take someone out fishing or hunting or they come to the farm, they say we didn’t know we needed this until we got here, and often they come back. It just makes us want to do it more often, as much as we can do it. Whenever we can set something up, we do it. We make it possible. It’s the least we can do.
SS: Give me an example of someone who really benefited from their experience with you.
VR: There was a gentleman from Milwaukee, a veteran in his early 40s. He struggled. He was struggling not only internally with PTSD, but it was causing issues with his family and his marriage in a pretty severe fashion. They were not Northwoods people and in fact had never been north of Milwaukee. They’ve never done anything like this.
For them, it was amazing. He had some unique experiences. For example, he went for a walk with his service puppy, and a deer approached them on the road. Like something you’d see on a Facebook video that never actually happens to you, but it happened to him. When his family came, they were totally afraid of farm animals, but by the end of the week they were crying. They didn’t want to leave.
And they came up, they found out about us and asked, what do we need to do to come up? He came back again on his own a few months later and still volunteers and helps spread the word about us in the Milwaukee area. He said, “I really needed this,” and it was pretty emotional on several different occasions. That’s kind of typical of what happens when veterans come. That’s how we know we’re doing the right thing.
SS: You’re offering this experience at no cost to veterans and their families. How are you funding it?
VR: We are not a big, national organization that gets big grants and big dollars and movie star endorsements. We rely on people’s donations, whether it’s $5, $100 or a company donates. Every single penny goes into the program. Otto and I do not get paid. Nobody in our organization draws a salary, and the money stays local. We only work with Wisconsin veterans, so when people donate, it stays here and serves our vets, and it gets them hunting and fishing and it runs the farm. Right now, we’re definitely in need of help to keep the programs running.
SS: How do veterans sign up and where can we learn more?
VR: Basically Facebook is our most active resource for people. Wounded Warriors United of Wisconsin is our Facebook page. We also have a page for Country Haven Farm, and we post our new hunting and fishing opportunities there. People follow that. If a veteran sees that we have an opening for a hunting trip or other opportunity, they just go on the website, and they fill out what’s called a veteran participation form with basic information. If we have more veterans than openings we do a lottery draw, then call them up and set a date and time and they go. We make it very stress-free and easy for them to get involved. We want to keep it simple and stress free.
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