COLUMBIA – Crystal Wiggins has been out of the U.S. Air Force for seven years, but the passage of time doesn’t make her feel any less devoted to service.
“I think I’ll be serving the military my whole life,” Wiggins said.
Her commitment to serving others led Wiggins into her current role as the veterans program manager at the Columbia Center for Urban Agriculture’s Veterans Urban Farm.
“We all have something in common which is we wanna help veterans and we love veterans and some of us are veterans,” said Wiggins.
Serving veterans after service
From offering occupational therapy to fresh produce, the farm serves veterans across mid-Missouri.
“There’s a level of understanding that we can offer to veterans when they come here,” said Dustin Cook, a veteran and health and wellness coach for the Truman VA Whole Health Program.
CCUA established the Veterans Urban Farm in 2020 as a partnership with Truman VA.
“Our partnership is a very unique one,” said Heather Brown, the strategic partnership officer for Truman VA. “One that’s actually looking at being replicated nationally.”
Brown said several VAs across the country have on-site gardens, but having an off-site location for veterans to visit gives them more opportunities.
“It just kind of gives them their own space,” she said. “A lot of veterans may not have their own space outside of the VA.”
The Veterans Urban Farm is open to all veterans, whether they are affiliated with Truman VA or not.
“One of our biggest future goals is just to continue to expand awareness that we’re here and get more veterans involved,” Cook said.
Due to the nature of military service, Cook said people often come out of their service with physical or psychological injuries, a lack of structure or even a lack of knowledge of basic life skills.
“It can be really taxing and really even traumatizing to have to transition into the world and not really know all of those things,” Cook said.
Cook said these circumstances can make it hard for veterans to transition back into civilian life.
“You end up with a lot of isolation, you end up with people having really poor diets, you end up with people who kind of lose their motivation to get up and do stuff,” he said.
On average, the Veterans Urban Farm grows around 15,000 pounds of fresh produce each year. The fresh fruits and vegetables are then donated to local veterans and their families.
Growing good food for a good cause
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The production of so much produce is made possible by CCUA and veteran volunteers who come to the farm from the start of the growing season in March to the end of harvest season in November.
“I really love it,” said Margrace Buckler, a CCUA volunteer. “But mainly it’s because you get to meet some of the people you’re providing assistance to and they get to come out and enjoy this, to which it’s my therapy.”
Veterans also have the opportunity to take part in the growing and harvesting of the produce through Truman VA’s transitional work programs.
“Outside is probably one of the best places you can get just to kind of commune with nature and be with other veterans,” Brown said. “The partnership really just met all of those boxes.”
James Olson is one of the transitional work veterans who said he has benefited from working at the farm.
“I’ve learned the benefits of being kind, being compassionate, and you know, I think that’s irreplaceable,” he said.
As a former Army mechanic, Olson said working at the farm has given him skills to succeed in his current chapter of life.
“I’m getting a little bit of trade skills and it’s helping me stay busy, stay sober, get rid of my depression, and I just love it,” he said.
Using art as an outlet
One of the aspects of the Veterans Urban Farm Olson said he loves to take part in is art therapy.
“It’s a channel for my misplaced emotions, like anger or lust,” Olson said.
Volunteers and organizers gathered to participate in an art therapy session that struck an emotional cord for many. They cut up unused, out-of-service military uniforms to turn into sheets of paper, including uniforms from Wiggins’s era of service.
“It’s definitely a little emotional,” Wiggins said. “The time that we were in this uniform, I mean, it’s such a big part of who we were when we were in and it kind of continues to be a big part of who we are after.”
Emotions in the group varied, but Wiggins said she felt excited as she worked to give something of meaning to her a new purpose.
“It’s a unique idea to transform something that’s part of my identity almost really, into something new,” she said. “I think that in life in general that’s what we all are trying to do is grow and change and recreate and overcome.”
Other veterans who participated said they felt uncomfortable, and felt they were desecrating something sacred. But Wiggins said she viewed the project as a symbol for finding a different purpose and perspective in life.
“It has symbolic meaning right now because we give it that,” Wiggins said. “But as we cut it up and change it, we’re giving it new meaning. Which I think is something we all need in our lives.”
Giving life a new meaning is what the Veterans Urban Farm is all about. Whether you’re a veteran or not, Wiggins said the community provides support for anyone who sets foot on the farm.
“I love being able to host something like this and be a part of it at the same time because it’s beneficial for everyone who comes out here to have the community,” she said. “But it’s also beneficial for me. It’s good for the soul.”