Check Out Richard Murphy’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Richard Murphy.

Hi Richard, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Veterans to Farmer’s mission got started with a good idea, one we hoped could alleviate two significant challenges with a single solution. The first is veteran mental health & support. Statistics painfully indicated that conventional treatments were not going to solve every veteran’s unique challenges. Often a “round peg in a square hole attempt.” There desperately needed to be more options for healing and post-traumatic growth. The second feeding the world and food security.

As I write this in the first week of November, we as a species will reach a population of 8 billion people before the close of the month. Again, statistics have revealed that the American Farmer is an “endangered species”. With many of our most experienced farmers at retirement age and few interested in filling their boots. We recognize from personal experience that working with plants and the earth is one of the many alternatives to uniquely supporting our veteran community.

Playing off of the strengths that are innate in the ethos of most veterans. Qualities like collaboration, attention to detail, diligence, service before self, and yes… good ole’ stubbornness. I have been teaching in the Colorado community for almost 10 years now. Saying it has flown by would be an understatement. It is said that is what happens when you are having fun. Season after season, veteran after veteran, and each of them is magical.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It was as smooth as riding a bike before the invention of the wheel! In all seriousness, though, building a successful non-profit is probably the hardest thing I have ever undertaken. In the beginning, I was just a certified plant nerd, I knew nothing about the non-profit world. It was early on when it became apparent that the trajectory of our mission’s success would require me to learn as quickly as possible.

Like every non-profit, funding is the top objective because nothing happens, or at least not for very long, without funding. We are blessed that there are plenty of veterans interested in our courses. The limiting factor always has been the ability to cover the costs of making that happen. And… veterans are a peculiar group; getting us all together can be like herding drunk cats!

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
After leaving the service in 2003, I, like many veterans, had no idea what I would do with myself or what to expect. The civilian world was now somewhat foreign to me, and I found it difficult to relate to much of it. I bounced around from one job to the next. I tried going to school for nursing but eventually landed in social work.

After seven years of pouring myself into social work, my mental health and unresolved trauma were quietly consuming me, and I had to walk away. That time, after walking away, I began to understand more about myself and my challenges. I occasionally think when we live with trauma, we look for ways to make it feel better by burying it through the action of helping others. And although this is a noble act, we all too often omit to help ourselves as a result.

Helping start Veterans to Farmers was just as much an act of self-preservation as it was an act of building a community for all veterans. I needed a community, and it was on the farm and in the gardens where the world made the most sense to me, and I wanted to share that. Creating this space has allowed me the tools to heal and acknowledge I needed help. Now ten years and almost 200 veterans later, it is something I cannot imagine being available to every veteran.

Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
I was blessed to grow up in Alaska and was somewhat feral as a child. My father was a survival instructor for the Airforce. As a result, we always lived near what seemed like a never-ending forest. It was incredible for a child, and it felt like the forest was a second home. I was not the biggest fan of the school; I am both dyslexic and ADHD.

So, school often made me feel incapable. I saw myself as a mash-up of Mowgli from Jungle Book and a Mountain Man exploring the last frontier, the ones with big beards and dusty faces. I think this unique upbringing intimately connected me to nature from childhood. To this day, it is my church, my temple, and my connection to the gods.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.veteranstofarmers.org
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/veteranstofarmers
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/VeteranstoFarmers
• Youtube: https://youtu.be/cWcDGy5IjSY