Craft therapy center in Temple offers veterans opportunity for healing

Written for the Temple Daily Telegram on May 26th. An alternative, non-traditional therapy offered to Veterans around the area.

Central Texas is home to many veterans thanks to the proximity to military bases such as Fort Cavazos in Killeen and other installations in Fort Worth, Abilene and San Antonio.

The large number of veterans, and active duty personnel includes a segment of that population that sometimes needs a helping hand due to the strains and challenges of their military service.

A local organization goes above and beyond to help serve and support veterans and active duty members alike.

Help Heal Veterans-Cahill Center, at 819 S. Fifth St. in Temple, lives up to its name by helping veterans through a simple activity.

Craft therapy is used to help visitors handle the aftermath of some of the hardest situations a person could experience.

Craft care specialists, not clinical or mental health workers, assist veterans in the process of healing through the use of artistic methods to treat psychological disorders, mobility issues and improve mental health.

“When you are working on something with your hands and you’re totally engaged in it, as you are in a craft kit, your brain, without you trying, takes trauma from the back and moves it to the front of the brain to process it without having to use therapy,” Trish Alger, owner of the Cahill Center, said.

“It was so validating because some people would make fun of what we do,” Alger said. “Yes, we have coloring books, and yes, we have colored pencils. Yes, it feels like it’s just artsy, fartsy kind of stuff, but it’s more than that.”

Beyond studies and hypothetical scenarios, real change in real people is the goal.

Jordan McCarley from Gatesville stops in at the Temple center for her grandfather, James, a Vietnam War veteran, anytime they are in town for a medical appointment.

“I take care of (my parents) now, so since he can’t walk I do everything with him and for him,” Jordan said. “They took care of me when I was young. Now it’s my turn.”

She shared a little bit about her grandfather.

“He was injured multiple times in Vietnam, the last time he got injured it took him out,” Jordan said. “He’s been pretty good up until the last couple of years with his mobility and everything, but he hasn’t been able to walk anymore.”

She believes in the craft therapy for her father.

“This helps a lot, being able to get crafts from here,” Jordan said. “He enjoys it. He really likes the leather crafts and stuff, but he also likes writing out the notes to send the thank you cards that come in the packages. He absolutely enjoys that part.”

James is a repeat crafter, he has done several of the leather crafts multiple times over and still finds joy in each one.

“He’s done about four of the messenger bags. It’s OK if they’re repeats,” Jordan said. “He just doesn’t want something that’s not going to take him very long, and then he’s out of crafts so quickly.”

Alger pointed out the crafts make excellent gifts.

“He prefers leather because he used to make his own stuff out of leather,” Jordan said. “He made several wallets for himself. He made some of his belts. His knife sheath, made about five different ones of those. But these days, finding genuine leather that’s not extremely expensive is hard, and he doesn’t have the mobility in his shoulder to be able to shave it down and everything like he goes to.”

James McCarley was in luck last week as Alger found some donated automotive leather that had already been dyed and was ready to be used.

In Alger’s 54 years as a craft care specialist, she has seen craft kits go far and wide.

“At the border, there are thousands of soldiers down there: Marines, Army reserve, and Border Patrol,” Alger said. “When they have drill weekend, all they would do is sit around on their phone and not talk to one another. They’re in their own little world, and bored out of their mind.”

“A master sergeant, I think, from down at Eagle Pass, he just warned me that he’s coming back up,” Alger said. “This is the fourth time he’s come for craft kits in like two months. I think I did 1,600 the first time. He said, I think they had 1,800 where he’s at the facility. He told me, ‘I don’t care what kind of crafts I bring. They’re gone.’”

Another man was deployed and his wife would come and pick up craft kits for him and mail them herself. He and his buddies would sit around and put together some of the model kits, according to Alger, enjoying a bonding experience without even trying.

“When he got out, he came back and he was in a civilian military job, but he would still come in and get craft kits and he learned how to do them with his kids so he could help rebuild that bond,” Alger said. “That made a big difference, too. It’s crazy just to see all the changes we’ve seen people overcome.”

The center offers all crafts free of charge to active duty and veterans. Many nationwide companies support the nonprofit by donating supplies to be built into craft kits.

“We have really great partnerships: La-Z-Boy have sent over 400 pallets to headquarters, and so we turn their material into different craft kits,” Alger said. “The Elks brand actually gets deer hides from hunters in the Midwest, and then they process it and send it to us, and we turn those into our moccasin kits and other nice leather goods. Joann’s, poor guys are closing but they used to send us these kits with a skein of yarn with either a crochet hook in it or else knitting needles with a beginner, how to get started (pack).”

One embroidery company continues to share the message of art therapy on social media.

“Avlea Folk Embroidery, she sent a whole bunch of supplies,” Alger said. “We have different kits from her. She has the largest online following of men doing embroidery and she told all of her followers about us.“

For the veterans there are many choices of models to build.

“We’ve been getting all these extra models,” Alger said. “I can’t believe how many guys get so happy, a couple women, but mostly men who are like, oh my goodness. Some like the really tiny ones, some like the huge ones.”

Extending their reach even further there is a section for homeless veterans and veterans in nursing care. The homeless veteran liaison in the area and other organizations often pick up supplies for veterans.

The nonprofit has had its fair share of obstacles, including the pandemic of a few years ago. The center was open to curbside orders during that time, when there was a shortage of face masks and other equipment many veterans spent their isolation time sewing masks and surgical caps. Alger estimated they donated more than 5,000 masks.

Like many businesses today, staffing continues to be a problem as funding dwindles. Alger had to lay off one of her three paid employees and move another to part-time only. Volunteer numbers also have been in decline.

“We had 50 volunteers at one point, mostly veterans who needed another purpose, which was great,” Alger said. “A lot of them have had surgeries, been ill or we’ve lost them. So now we’re to the point where we just have a handful that occasionally you’re able to come in.”

The biggest problem for the Temple location as well as other veteran-based programs in the area, according to Alger, is engagement.

They often show up long enough to get craft kits, but are not showing up for events and classes held to build camaraderie and build bonds in the veteran community.

“We used to have a lot of camaraderie,” Alger said. “They would hang out in the gathering room and just talk. It doesn’t matter what branch as long as they were talking to each other.”

The path to improvement, both mental and physical, is an ongoing roller coaster for many veterans.

“You set up for a class and prep takes like three hours, so we would prepare for a class and maybe one person would show up,” Alger said. “With veterans, there is a point where sometimes they wake up in the morning and can’t or don’t want to leave the house. And they don’t care what they signed up for, it’s not like they have money in the game here because we’re free.”

But obstacles are a part of life and Alger actively combats the negativity with her personality, but acknowledges self-responsibility is a large portion of mental health.

“You can’t force people to show up for stuff, even though you know it’s good for their mental health,” Alger said. “Some wives will come in to get some for their husbands, who are capable of coming in. I say, the first one’s free now he’s got to come back in and get it himself. It’s good to make them have to get out. Challenge them just a little bit.“

Art therapy begins at Cahill Center, but it is an ongoing journey. Like any mental health treatment, it takes effort. There are several other communities that Alger tries to push her veteran crafters into.

“We have a lot of art organizations around here to plug people into,” Alger said. “There is a crochet community who meet at Killeen Mall. The Wildflower quilting guild in Temple has a monthly meeting, and they do quilts of valor, all kinds of things.”

The key is to get veterans to take the steps to find a craft and participate.

“These are the things we try to plug them into once they get excited about something,” Alger said. “It’s like, you should check this out because then we’re not giving them all that they need. We just got them a good bump to get them going. And then now they’re in the community making other friends and other connections.”