At Brushwood Center in Lake County, weekly walks more than therapeutic for military veterans
LAKE COUNTY, Ill. — Lake County has a place where veterans can go to reflect and recharge.
Even current service members can participate in a weekly gathering where veterans immerse themselves in what Mother Nature offers. Among the participants is Round Lake native Chris Hellickson.
Soon after graduating high school, he was off to the Marines.
“I never would have seen 23 countries and I never would’ve saw the parts of the world that I’ve seen,” Hellickson said. “No Rambo stories, but it was a logistics job that took me around the world.”
Hellickson says his time in the service was second only to having a family. His military family continues to extend, however, as part of a recreational therapy outpatient program at the Brushwood Center.
“The interaction here has been great,” Hellickson said. “The people are nice and what do you know? They have classes here. I became an instructor and I’ve been doing some of the woodworking classes.”
Hellickson said the classes offered at the Brushwood Center are rewarding and restorative.
“It’s basically designed as a way for people to cope with anxiety, stress, therapy,” he said. “It’s very therapeutic.”
The nonprofit Brushwood Center and the Bridge Recreational Therapy Outpatient program at the Captain James Lovell Federal Health Care Center partner up to provide the weekly nature walks. The Brushwood Center at Ryerson Woods in Lake County allows veterans to spend time together in a relaxed environment and unwind from the stress of life past and present.
“I am the veteran program coordinator for Brushwood Center so I manage all of our veteran programs. All of our nature walks are hiking programs, photography, art, and music programs as well,” said Jessica Klinge. The veterans program specialist who has spent a life in the military says these days, the mental health of past military service members is her mission.
“I’m really happy that we can give that sense of community and nature to our veterans,” Klinge said.
Lorra Rudman, a Brushwood Center volunteer, says connectivity is crucial for allowing veterans to connect with a part of themselves they may not have been aware of.
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“I am here to more to give than to receive,” Hellickson said. “With that, I get so much out of it. It’s very rewarding. Just being here, the camaraderie, you can relate to the people, to fellow veterans there. There are common bonds, hard to explain, but it doesn’t take but a second to walk in a room and establish those bonds with those people.”
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