James Larrabee uses a chainsaw to remove limbs from a dead tree at the Veteran Urban Farm in Columbia (Benjamin Zweig/Missourian).
After nearly losing their farm and experiencing divorce, U.S. Navy veteran Ash Mae Stuckenschneider tried to take their own life. But despite their struggles with mental health, Stuckenschneider took a chance on life, by accepting a second call to service at the Veterans Urban Farm in Columbia.
They say that decision changed their life.
With the support of state legislation like the Veteran Omnibus Bill, suicide prevention programs and community integrative services offered through Missouri Veterans Commission and Truman Veterans’ Hospital are giving local veterans such as Stuckenschneider the help they need.
Like suicide rates for all Americans, attempts by veterans have steadily increased. In 2021, Missouri veterans’ rate of suicide was 45.2 per 100,000, “significantly higher” than the national rate of 33.9 per 100,000, according to the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs.
Missouri Veterans Commission Executive Director Paul Kirchhoff said he’s lost military friends to suicide. It’s why he is prepared to tackle the issue, he said.
“A veteran has raised their right hand and sworn to give their life if necessary for their country, for their fellow citizens; it’s important that we give back,” he said. “If we don’t take care of our veterans, who’s going to want to join the military in the future?”
The commission is in the process of hiring one or multiple candidates to specialize in finding root causes of veteran suicide and effective preventative measures, Kirchhoff said. He said the commission added prevention programs to its offerings that include traditional nursing care placement, veteran benefits and burial services.
Camaraderie and community
After their time in the Navy, Stuckenschneider said they struggled with adjustment disorder, a mental disorder that brings emotional and behavioral challenges after a drastic change.
“I was not prepared to go into civilian life where now I have to also take care of other things that the military might have taken care of, like housing, food and even down to things like taxes,” Stuckenschneider said. “Every day is like planned out for you. What to wear, where to go, what to do, and then all of a sudden that’s like ripped out from underneath you.”
After their discharge from the veterans hospital, Stuckenschneider started working at the Columbia Center for Urban Agriculture’s Veterans Urban Farm, a space for vocational rehabilitation and recreational therapy.
The veterans hospital’s vocational rehabilitation program is divided into three need-based groups: community-based employment, supported employment and transitional work.
Stephen Long, community integrative services supervisor at the veterans hospital, helps run the program and said the transitional work group focuses on veterans facing the most significant barriers to employment, such as coming out of incarceration, homelessness, chronic unemployment and high therapeutic needs.
Employees say veterans commonly become HVAC technicians or explore training opportunities at Job Point, a local employment center, after their time at the farm.
Stuckenschneider said the job’s structure and routine helped lift their mental health.
“I realized that like I either needed a job that’s kind of high-octane, where I have to have a lot of adrenaline and have a lot of hard work for me to do, or I need to be outside and doing something kind of tranquil, like dealing with plants, replanting, harvesting, seeding, etcetera,” they said.
Although Stuckenschneider said they’ve learned transferable work skills while at the farm, the connections made were most valuable to their mental health.
“It exposed me to other veterans with similar stories and situations as myself, other veterans who were homeless or veterans who were suicidal and have mental health issues that needed to be taken care of,” Stuckenschneider said. “And so it helped to rebuild that sense of camaraderie and community that you have within the military.”
Employment is intervention
Dustin Cook, former program manager at the Veterans Urban Farm and vocational rehabilitation specialist at the veterans hospital, said company and community are some of the strongest preventive measures against veteran suicide because they combat isolation.
“Employment is intervention,” Cook said. He began volunteering with Columbia Center for Urban Agriculture in 2022 and helped found the farm.
Crystal Wiggins, program manager for the Veterans Urban Farm, works with Stuckenschneider and the other veterans on the farm throughout the week. After serving eight years in the Air Force, she wanted to serve veterans after personally experiencing a difficult transition out of the military herself.
“It’s pretty hard to have a good quality of life when you don’t have income and (are) not able to maintain or hold a job because of your mental health,” Wiggins said. “It’s like, which comes first, the chicken or the egg?”