It's early spring and due to the unseasonably warm weather this year, the greens and garlic are already flourishing at the Veterans' Sanctuary Farm in Trumansburg, New York. Two large greenhouses host piles of compost, trays of seedlings, and tools and materials for small-scale farming. Geese swim in the pond that sits next to "woodhenge," a Stonehenge replica-still in the works-made from tree stumps. Two plots of land covered in straw await the next phase of planting. All around, beds filled with garlic line every conceivable space. It's a place ripe with potential; a place where veterans can go to work the land, grow their own food, do something nurturing. 

Sign at the VS Farm

"In the military we are taught the exact opposite of nurturing," says Nathan Lewis, one of the Veterans' Sanctuary founders. "What we're trying to do [with the sanctuary] is transform our lives into something positive that can heal us, and hopefully sustain us into the future."

Initially, the Veterans' Sanctuary--a CTA project since 2010--planned on having a residential program for returning war vets. The issues facing vets returning today are different from veterans who fought in World War II or Korea or even Vietnam. Suicide rates among both veterans and those still in active duty are the highest they've ever been. "We wanted to unite around issues facing vets today," Lewis says. "We all come from a very diverse cross-section of American society, but we wanted to unite around issues of homecoming, PTSD, art and healing. Originally, there was a large group of us, and we thought, wouldn't it be great to have a place where we could live, and work on these issues together."

The residential plan is no longer a focus of the Veterans' Sanctuary, but in addition to the farm, they recently acquired an art studio, and they host regular "Warrior Writing" workshops for veterans (and some non-veterans, too). In the art studio, they have the machinery to make combat paper, which is paper made from military uniforms. Veterans can cut up their uniforms, put them through a papermaking process, and then use that paper for art or writing. Lewis uses his combat paper for making the covers of his hand bound books of poetry and other writing. He's published two books through the national nonprofit Warrior Writers, and recently donated copies to the Alternatives Library (another CTA project).

CTA is now accepting applications for new Project Partners anywhere in New York State. The next deadline for applications is May 1. Find out more here.

Today, Sunday, April 1 at 2pm, the Tompkins County Public Library and Ithaca City of Asylum will host a celebration of Nobel Poet Laureate Czeslaw Milosz' work featuring a reading by members of the local Polish and poetry communities. Milosz lived for many years in the United States while he was in exile from Poland. His work is a powerful example of what would be lost to the world if there were no places of refuge for writers unable to work freely in their native countries--the kind of refuge provided by ICOA.

Performing Arts for Social Change (a CTA strategic initiative) and Students for Social Responsibility from the Lehman Alternative Community School present Ruminations, a play about living with disabilities.

Two public performances wil take place on Tuesday April 3, at 1PM in the Hangar Theatre, 801 Taughannock Blvd. in Ithaca, and 7PM in the LACS Black Box theatre, 111 Chestnut Street, Ithaca. Seating is limited for the evening performance.

Quick Links

Project Partners

Invest in CTA