Sign up for TPR Today, Texas Public Radio's newsletter that brings our top stories to your inbox each morning.
There’s a Texas Parks and Wildlife program that encourages veterans to visit state parks for events designed specifically for them.
Nature has an innate ability to ease the pain we all carry. For veterans, time in nature can offer a way to heal and reconnect. Texas Parks and Wildlife’s Nicole Mechler is the agency’s military liaison.
“Every year we've been hosting throughout the month of September because September is National Suicide Prevention and Awareness Month,” Mechler said.
Events that provide camaraderie and healing are starting all around the state in parks this weekend.
/ Courtesy photo
/ Courtesy photo
/ Courtesy photo
“They're happening throughout the entire month of September, typically on a Saturday or Sunday,” Mechler said. “So our first one is starting on this Saturday at McKinney Falls State Park. We have well over 20 parks participating with 26 events.”
That state park is just southeast of Austin.
Being outdoors is therapeutic, and being there with others who understand what veterans are going through can give them a peace that’s hard to otherwise find.
Veteran Nicole Mechler runs the program in Texas Parks, and she is also a veteran. She calls these events "ruck hikes."
“We actually started these annual ruck hikes about four years ago when I came onto the agency," said Mechler. "It was a goal of mine to provide a suicide prevention awareness type event that brings our veterans and their family members out into the outdoors with our state parks."
There are two parks in and near San Antonio where events will be held.
“We actually have two parks that are very close to San Antonio,” she said.
“We have Government Canyon State Natural Area, which is right on that West Side of San Antonio near Helotes, and then up north, just about a 30-minute trek to Spring Branch, is Guadalupe River State Park, and both are participating,” said Mechler.
These programs are another way to connect resources with those who need them.
“We're not just hosting these events to bring people out to the parks, but each park is also partnering and networking with their local veteran organizations to come on site and provide resources as well,” Mechler said.
