When Air Force veteran Scott McLean steps into the world of equine therapy, he doesn't just find solace; he discovers a new chapter in his life's mission. Join us as Scott recounts his remarkable transition from serving in the military to battling PTSD, and how the power of horses offered an unexpected form of healing. His tenure as a military and U.S. Customs and Border Protection narcotics dog handler sets the backdrop for his compelling narrative, painting a vivid picture of perseverance and the quest for peace. The Herd Foundation in Delray Beach, Florida, becomes the arena where Scott's story of recovery gains its stride, and you'll hear how this experience not only changed his life, but also positioned him as a dedicated advocate for veterans nonprofits, veteran programs and mostly for his fellow veterans.
This episode is more than just one man's journey; it's an exploration of the vital connections between veterans and the nonprofits dedicated to supporting them. Scott dives into the collaborative spirit that unites organizations like Mission United, HERD Foundation, and the West Palm Beach VA Medical Center, underscoring the importance of joint efforts over solitary strides. His engagement with the Delray Beach Chamber of Commerce highlights the power of networking within the nonprofit sector to amplify veteran support. Through raw, unscripted dialogue, we peel back the layers of these symbiotic relationships and shine a spotlight on the essential services that pave the way for veterans' recovery, emphasizing suicide prevention and the potency of personal narratives in illuminating the path to help.
When Air Force veteran Scott McLean steps into the world of equine therapy, he doesn't just find solace; he discovers a new chapter in his life's mission. Join us as Scott recounts his remarkable transition from serving in the military to battling PTSD, and how the power of horses offered an unexpected form of healing. His tenure as a military and U.S. Customs and Border Protection narcotics dog handler sets the backdrop for his compelling narrative, painting a vivid picture of perseverance and the quest for peace. The Herd Foundation in Delray Beach, Florida, becomes the arena where Scott's story of recovery gains its stride, and you'll hear how this experience not only changed his life, but also positioned him as a dedicated advocate for veterans nonprofits, veteran programs and mostly for his fellow veterans.
This episode is more than just one man's journey; it's an exploration of the vital connections between veterans and the nonprofits dedicated to supporting them. Scott dives into the collaborative spirit that unites organizations like Mission United, HERD Foundation, and the West Palm Beach VA Medical Center, underscoring the importance of joint efforts over solitary strides. His engagement with the Delray Beach Chamber of Commerce highlights the power of networking within the nonprofit sector to amplify veteran support. Through raw, unscripted dialogue, we peel back the layers of these symbiotic relationships and shine a spotlight on the essential services that pave the way for veterans' recovery, emphasizing suicide prevention and the potency of personal narratives in illuminating the path to help.
Scott McLean:
Welcome to the Vets Connect podcast. I'm your host, Scott McLean. I thought, kicking off this podcast, I'd give you a little background on myself and why I started this podcast. I did 10 years in the United States Air Force. I was security police, now known as security forces, military working dog handler. I served two years at Clark Air Force Base in the Philippines. I served at Mather Air Force Base in Sacramento, california, march Air Force Base in Riverside, california, and finally Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Scott McLean:
As a security policeman I responded to police calls. I seemed to always be the one that got the pretty bad calls, not the call like a bad call in football. I'd got some pretty bad calls. While going into detail, there was death involved, there was suicide, there was really bad domestic incidents. Through all that, I pushed on. When I got out in 1997, I went to work for US Customs and Border Protection as a narcotics dog handler. I did that for 22 years.
Scott McLean:
Along that journey things started to go wrong with me. As I say, there was a chink in the armor, or I like to use the phrase, even the hardest piece of granite cracks on the inside. I was told by some of my friends, my veteran friends that I should probably go to the VA and seek some help, which I did. I was reluctant, like a lot of us are or were, but I did it. It was probably one of the best things I've ever done for myself and my family. I was diagnosed with PTSD, which, along with that, is anxiety stress disorder. I went through some therapists and then I found one, or they found me through the Delray Beach VA Clinic. I'll give her a shout out. Dr Fox, who, after probably I don't know second session, asked me if I was interested in equine assisted services. It's funny how things happen, everything for a reason. I have a really good friend of mine who I grew up with and she does equine assisted therapy. She always talked to me about it. I was always like wow, that sounds great, but skeptical. See, I worked with dogs 32 years. I have a degree in canine science. I worked canine security at the Boston Gardens, the old Boston Gardens. I did 10 years as a dog handler in the Air Force, in about 22 years with US Customs and Border Protection as a canine enforcement officer.
Scott McLean:
What did I know about horses? I was open to anything. Dr Fox refers me to the Herd Foundation in Delray Beach, florida. I was skeptical. I was apprehensive I'm not a big group therapy guy but I went and it was life changing. All my skepticism was thrown away.
Scott McLean:
I met Rhonda Fritzahl and Nangay Johnson, the co-founders of Herd Foundation, and they started teaching me about how to connect with horses. They have heard it's this beautiful eight-acre horse farm right in the middle of East Delray Beach, florida. You'd never know it's there, it's like an oasis. So with that I really started to learn about myself. And they'll be coming up in one of the episodes. I'll be interviewing them and they can give everybody all the information on what equine assisted services gives you.
Scott McLean:
And Herd Foundation is specifically for veterans that suffer I hate the word suffer that have PTSD, traumatic brain injuries, another afflictions, for lack of a better term at this point. So I fell in love with it. It really was amazing what I was learning about myself and about horses. And it's all groundwork. There's no writing and we have a beautiful five horse herd that we work with. They have a program called the Freedom Patch Program and you do eight weeks and this is all free for veterans Eight weeks of learning basically how to connect with the horse and that's the basics of it, but there's more and we'll go into that, like I said in another episode, and that's Freedom Patch one. And then Freedom Patch two is a little more advanced. It's once a week and it's an hour to an hour and a half sessions and you really start learning more about the horses and about yourself. So I loved it so much that I started learning more about it. I took a course in natural life'smanship, which is basically horsemanship learning horsemanship with humans and how horses work. It's a whole thing and I really started loving it even more to the point where I started volunteering at the farm.
Scott McLean:
I'm retired I retired from US Customs and Border Protection in 2019. And they saw that I was so involved in this that they asked me if I would not mind helping facilitate with other veteran groups. Now, I'm not an equine specialist I don't have any degrees in that but I was learning a lot and I was really involved in it. So I figured you know what sure I can just keep learning and, in the same time, help other veterans. Then I became the veteran ambassador for them and then I eventually ended up on the Board of Directors for Herd Foundation.
Scott McLean:
That started a whole new journey for me. So I would do outreach programs through the VA. They would have an outreach and all these nonprofits would come together and there's an organization called Mission United and West Palm Beach Chapter. They would have these outreach programs and to bring all these nonprofits together. And I knew nothing about this world, zero about this world. And so I'm in this big room, this big auditorium type room, and there's 60, 70 non-profit groups in there and they all work with veterans. And I'm looking around and I'm representing Herd Foundation and I'm like how come I never knew about these things, I never knew these nonprofits existed.
Scott McLean:
So that kind of stuck in my head and I went to another one at the VA and you meet the same non-profits and you become friends with them and then you realize through Herd Foundation we actually connect with a few other of these non-profits. So now my friend, jonathan Oakley, the Senior Director of Mission United, west Palm Beach, his goal we had a conversation his goal, his job, is to get these non-profits together, like find each other. Then I met Cecilia Baez from the West Palm Beach VA Medical Center and she has a specific job with them related to suicide prevention and she's doing the same thing and they run the same lane together. They know each other well, they're both very, very wonderful people, but the goal is the same.
Scott McLean:
And so I've been doing this for a year and a half now and I started noticing that all these non-profits seemed to me and this is my perception to be islands unto themselves. They don't know that there's other organizations out there, or they do, but they're kind of caught up in what they're doing and so, and when you connect with another non-profit so if a veteran comes to us at Herd Foundation and we've done it and maybe that's not for them, maybe the horses isn't something that they really want to follow through on Well, like any good non-profit does or should do, we'll recommend them to somebody we know. There's the gray team in Boca Raton, there's the 22 project over in Boca Raton that's the next town over from us and we send the veteran with pleasure onto them and hopefully they can help them. And if that doesn't work for them, maybe they know somebody. But the thing is the resources are so vast out there. I mean I started learning this yoga, a yoga non-profit. There's homeless non-profits, there's canine non-profits all working with veteran service dogs. We got horses there's more than a couple of other horse programs and I started meeting all these people and you give each other the business cards and well, sometimes the card just ends up in the pile with other cards and it's a reference, but the connection, just it's there. But I thought personally it needs to be there more, like we need to really come together, these non-profits and I learned through Heard Foundation that we're pretty active in the Delray Beach Chamber of Commerce and their non-profit groups and I saw how they do it and they do a really great job of it, of getting non-profits together. They really do. Delray Beach Chamber of Commerce is an amazing. They're an amazing Chamber of Commerce. I'm giving them a little shout out right now and Heard Foundation loves being involved with them because they're involved with us.
Scott McLean:
So I have another podcast that I do and I love podcasting. I love live streaming. It became my hobby in retirement. It's fun, it's creative and I just had this thing ticking in my head how can I take what I do and what I love doing and make it work for Heard Foundation and, and and or any other nonprofit, and help out Jonathan Oakley and Cecilia Baez from the VA, because they have? They have really nice people in doing great work, and so I wanted to give back to them. I wanted to give back to herd foundation, I want to give back to Listen. I'm not just saying this because it sounds really humble and nice to say. I truly mean this. I truly mean this. I Want to give back to and help out these nonprofits and I want to help out the veterans more, more so, because they're the ones that benefit from this.
Scott McLean:
And I realize I am, I'm sure I am not alone in the fact that I'm a veteran and I had no idea no Clue, wasn't even on my ball, on my radar. It's not even in the ballpark, wasn't even in my universe that there's nonprofit organizations out there that help veterans and it covers, like I said, a vast Array of categories and they're just out there and I didn't know about them. All I know is the VA and the VA for me. I know everybody's experience is different, but for me the VA has been, they've been wonderful. There's glitches along the way, but I've noticed a good change in how, at least, I'm getting what I need from them.
Scott McLean:
So I figured alright, you know, it just clicked one day, said I'm gonna do a podcast, I'll do a podcast, and what I want to do is each episode I want to highlight a nonprofit that helps veterans, but that to me, was was too singular. I'm going to do that. That is. That is a primary goal. But I also want to highlight the programs that the VA offers, specifically, but not Solely, suicide prevention, because, talking to Cecilia bias from West Palm Beach VA medical center, there's a lot of programs and there's a lot that they, that they can do for us. So I'm going to do episodes on on that also and I'm going to, you know, do episodes with Mission United and I'm going to do episodes. I'm gonna interview veterans from time to time and Find out what their experiences were, for better or for worse, with nonprofits, because you know it's it's not for everybody, but in the way I do, I'm going to do this podcast.
Scott McLean:
It's it's very organic conversation. The way it comes out is the way it comes out. I'm not big on editing. I believe getting that out, that organic conversation, getting the real conversation, is more important than Editing out this because it didn't sound right or, you know, maybe there was a noise in the background. I am not losing those moments Because I really want to talk to these people. So what you're going to get out of this podcast is a very, very unedited podcast. You know, I I love podcasts and there's some podcasts out there that are very well produced, and I also love the podcasts like Joe Rogan experience or whatever those natural conversations. That's what I'm aiming for. So that's what you're going to get out of this podcast. I Really, really hope you enjoy it. I Want you to reach out to me.
Scott McLean:
If you're a nonprofit, I you can send me an email at vets connect podcast at gmailcom, just like the title vets connect podcast at gmailcom. I want you to reach out to me, let me know you're out there and More than likely we can have an interview. And I I want to highlight this is not about me. This podcast is not about me. I am just a platform. I'm just the vessel that's going to get this information out to everybody in veterans and other nonprofits.
Scott McLean:
I want a nonprofit to say I never knew that. Maybe I could contact them, maybe we have something in common. My ultimate goal is to create this network. So I I think I said earlier Maybe I didn't that all these nonprofits seem to be islands unto themselves. It's like in the Philippines is thousand islands, it's called thousand islands and you know, back in the 1800s and maybe early 1900s, there was people living on these islands that did not know that other people existed on that other island. They thought that they were the only ones out there. Well, how do you connect one island to another? A bridge, that's it. You build a bridge from one island to the next and I want to just keep building those bridges until they're all connected.
Scott McLean:
I want a nonprofit in South Florida to know about a nonprofit in North Dakota. I want a nonprofit in Maine to know about a nonprofit in San Diego. That's my goal. I hope to accomplish it. I'm going to work hard at it. I hope you like the product I put out. You have to kind of refer to that as podcast talk. My content is everything right. I hope you enjoy it. I hope you get involved in it. I'm always open to feedback, for better or for worse. You won't get a lot of podcasts saying that, but again, you can reach me at vetsconnectpodcastgmailcom. This podcast will be going out on different platforms, all the different platforms, all the podcast platforms. I hope if you like it, you'll share it in whatever email list you have. Tell somebody about it. Again, my goal is to get everybody connected. It's all I want to do. That would be the most satisfying thing I could accomplish out of this is somebody saying, hey, thanks to your podcast, we connected. You know what I actually have a true example of how this works 22 Project and they're coming up in one of the early interviews.
Scott McLean:
Ashley Williams from 22 Project they deal with. They do hyperbaric chamber treatment for veterans. I found out and she'll tell you all this. I don't want to tip the hand, but they bring in veterans from all over the country, like not just South Florida. They bring them in from all over the country and they do next level stuff. It's just my opinion, ashley. She's amazing. She's had people come in from the Midwest or wherever. It's happened more than a few times. And they come in and they do the treatments. She's going to tell you everything that they do for the veterans. It's amazing.
Scott McLean:
But she's had some veterans say I miss my horses. I miss my horses Let me digress here a little bit my Boston accent, you're going to have to get used to that Horses, okay, anyway, they say they miss their horses. And what does Ashley do? She contacts Rhonda, the executive director of Herd Foundation, and Rhonda says send them on over and when they're not doing their treatments, they come over to the farm. These veterans or the veteran, usually it's one that in this situation, excuse me and we give them free sessions yeah, they can just hang with the horses and we give them. You know, we show them what we do with groundwork, with the horses. That's the connection. That's the connection. Somebody from Montana came to Boca Raton, did their treatment but missed their horses. Ashley gets rid of it and we have that connection with 22 Project and we love that. We love that. And so this this veteran gets to Come over to the farm, that oasis in the middle of East Delray Beach, florida, and hang out with horses, and that just makes their experience that much better.
Scott McLean:
Well, I want to be able to do that with all the nonprofits. So, again, I hope you enjoy the podcast. I Hope you you like it enough to share it. I Hope you like it enough to want to come on and talk to me and shine a light on your nonprofit. That that that would. That would be great, that would be great and I welcome it. The only problem that I so no one likes problems, but Sometimes there's a problem that you might like and I think I would like to have the problem of I have a lot of nonprofits reaching out and To be interviewed and I will get to you. I promise you that. So, with all that said, I've rambled long enough. I Hope again. I can't say this enough. I hope you like the podcast. It's going. I'm in it for the long run.
Scott McLean:
There's a lot of content.
Scott McLean:
There's a lot of interviews to be had.
Scott McLean:
There's a lot of nonprofits that need to be brought into the light. There's a lot of nonprofits that need to be connected. There's a lot of programs at the VA that they really want to help you know the veterans with and I want to bring those to the light. I want the veteran to listen and go hey, you know what? Maybe there's a equine assisted services program where I am in Maryland and Seek it out. We're not alone. We're all in this together. We all have the same mission, the same goal, and that's to help the veterans. So, with that, thank you for listening.
Scott McLean:
This is the inaugural did I say that right? The inaugural episode, and I'll do that every once in a while, so get used to that. Also. I'll question myself out loud. I don't care, I don't care. So again, please listen, please share, please reach out vets connect podcast at gmailcom and I look forward, I look so forward to bringing you, to bringing you each week a new nonprofit, a new program, a new interview, a veteran. I want to. I want to cover not too many bases, but just enough To keep you interested and keep you Informed. That's the most important thing. So, with that, thank you very much and I will see you next episode. Or you'll hear me, you won't see me because, well, it's a podcast and you're probably in your car and well, you can't see me. So there I go again. Anyway, thank you very much and you'll hear me next episode. All right,