November 15, 2023 | The Taos News
Taos, a place where veterans feel safe
Taos County, along with New Mexico as a whole, has a long and proud history of military service stretching back more than a century. This past weekend, Taos hosted a slew of Veterans Day events honoring those who have served in the nation’s armed forces.
A joint event for Not Forgotten Outreach and Veterans Off-Grid, two local nonprofits focused on serving veterans, was held on Saturday at Not Forgotten Outreach’s Taos-based agricultural center. Throughout the day, Ryan Timmermans, the executive director and founder of Veterans Off-Grid who served in the U.S. Army, stood behind a booth selling microgreens grown in an underground greenhouse at his nonprofit’s headquarters on Taos Mesa.
Veterans Off-Grid is a Carson-based nonprofit that helps veterans build and live off-grid. An equally agricultural endeavor, Veterans Off-Grid is a space for veterans to feel safe, Timmermans said.
Timmermans first arrived in Taos in 2015 with a buzzcut and clean-shaven face to learn how to build an Earthship. New to the area, he first drove toward Carson through Pilar on a clear September day. As he ascended the gorge and arrived on the plateau above, he was greeted by a sight of rainbows, long skies, wildflowers, sagebrush and tarantulas.
“I just got goosebumps,” Timmermans recalled. “I saw the mountains surrounding me, and it reminded me of where I was in Afghanistan. It’s the same elevation, and it looked very similar. I felt like I was home.”
Timmermans has since come a long way. Now sporting facial hair and a ponytail, he assists other veterans in the construction of off-grid structures in Carson under his own nonprofit organization. To him, many veterans return from their years of service to a changed environment, to which they often struggle to adapt. However, his off-grid micro-community hosts several veterans who were formerly homeless or lost in their modern lives.
“I find that when I meet veterans here, a lot of them are Combat Arms, Special Forces, Navy SEALs — they enjoy a challenge,” Timmermans said. “Taos is a challenging place to be, and you have low populations, amazing views and nature all around you. I feel like veterans are seeking that; they’re seeking connection with nature and a challenging environment.”
Returning to society through agriculture
Many veterans, including Taos Mayor Pascual Maestas — who served in the Navy — gathered at Not Forgotten Outreach on Saturday to celebrate the holiday. Maestas kicked the event off with a recognition of all of his fellow veterans, several of whom were in the audience that day.
Not Forgotten Outreach is a nonprofit founded by Kym Sanchez, whose husband was killed in combat. It was initially a place for veterans to gather and recuperate, but it has since expanded to become a place for veterans to express themselves creatively and participate in agricultural practices.
According to Patrick Million, the current executive director for Not Forgotten Outreach, a few veterans have gone on to teach others about how to grow and work the land, whether that’s planting a backyard garden or working on a small farm.
“The veterans have already demonstrated they are stewards of this country, and just finding a way to put down your weapon and still serve the county by aiding in its food security and being stewards of the land,” Million said.
Veterans and their families learn skills at Not Forgotten Outreach, such as hydroponics, animal husbandry and beekeeping. They can attend classes about farming and farm maintenance; the nonprofit is known to practice traditional methods as well. Goats graze on the farm as a form of weed control, and a pen of alpacas provides them with wool to be used to create garments.
Creativity is also encouraged at Not Forgotten Outreach, and art classes are offered. The site is filled with artistic expression in many forms, from large quilts to murals. Art therapy and yoga sessions are also made available.
“I don’t know if veterans are attracted here; I think they start off here,” Million said. “I think there’s a really proud heritage of veterans. We have a really great tradition of service in this region. There’s a higher-than-average amount of veterans here, and we should be very proud of that.”
Students and veterans together
The day before, Taos Middle School hosted an event on Friday (Nov. 10) where students brought their veteran relatives to school with them, an annual event that collaborates with the school’s history department. Students would bring a relative who served, and by participating in the event, they were pulled out of class to eat breakfast with the veterans while listening to the school choir.
“I think it’s important for the students to connect with their history, their family history, to the legacies that their families leave behind,” said Marisol Trujillo, the AVID site coordinator for Taos Municipal Schools District and organizer of the event, “and to realize that all of those sacrifices and those contributions are things that they have a connection to, and those are things that are a part of them as well.”
The event was considered by all to have been a success this year, with over 70 students signing on to participate — not including family members who accompanied them. The event featured speakers, including a student who wrote a poem about soldiers who went missing during combat and never returned. Other students wrote veteran biographies for class.
“When we started researching it, [students] have a deeper connection than they would have had because a lot of them didn’t know that some of their relatives were veterans,” Trujillo said. “It helped them connect with their families and their history to really see what experiences their relatives have had.”