1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:10,640 All across America and around the world, this is Veterans Radio. 2 00:00:10,640 --> 00:00:15,920 This is Veterans Radio. 3 00:00:15,920 --> 00:00:17,840 Welcome to Veterans Radio. 4 00:00:17,840 --> 00:00:20,560 I am Jim Fossone. 5 00:00:20,560 --> 00:00:22,880 I'm the officer of the deck today. 6 00:00:22,880 --> 00:00:24,760 We've got some great programs for you. 7 00:00:24,760 --> 00:00:27,760 I think you'll find very interesting. 8 00:00:27,760 --> 00:00:34,640 We always want to remind you you can find more about Veterans Radio at its Facebook site 9 00:00:34,640 --> 00:00:36,680 or at the web. 10 00:00:36,680 --> 00:00:43,120 VeteransRadio.org is our new URL, VeteransRadio.org. 11 00:00:43,120 --> 00:00:48,520 Where we're on the web 24-7, you can find a lot of our podcasts there as well. 12 00:00:48,520 --> 00:00:55,080 We post new ones every Tuesday, so you can get a new story, a new interview, 13 00:00:55,080 --> 00:00:59,960 something you didn't know before by going to VeteransRadio.org. 14 00:00:59,960 --> 00:01:04,240 And before we get started, we want to thank our sponsors. 15 00:01:04,240 --> 00:01:13,680 First up, we want to thank National Veteran Business Development Council, NVBDC.org. 16 00:01:13,680 --> 00:01:19,360 It was established to certify both service disabled and veteran-owned businesses. 17 00:01:19,360 --> 00:01:25,920 You'll find out how they can help your business by going to NVBDC.org. 18 00:01:25,920 --> 00:01:29,360 We want to thank Legal Help for Veterans. 19 00:01:29,360 --> 00:01:35,000 Legal Help for Veterans fights for veterans disability rights all across the nation. 20 00:01:35,000 --> 00:01:47,360 You can reach them at 800-693-4800 or on the web at LegalHelpForVeterans.com. 21 00:01:47,360 --> 00:01:54,280 We want to welcome to VeteransRadio today a couple of representatives from the nonprofit Zero Day, 22 00:01:54,280 --> 00:01:58,320 which our veteran radio listeners are going to listen and learn about. 23 00:01:58,320 --> 00:02:00,680 We've got Nate Cropsey on. 24 00:02:00,680 --> 00:02:04,720 Nate, welcome to VeteransRadio. 25 00:02:04,720 --> 00:02:06,120 And Jim Dettler. 26 00:02:06,120 --> 00:02:09,520 James, welcome to VeteransRadio. 27 00:02:09,520 --> 00:02:11,120 Appreciate it. Thanks. 28 00:02:11,120 --> 00:02:13,160 Well, let's start with this. 29 00:02:13,160 --> 00:02:16,960 I'll give a little bio on both of you guys, and then I'm going to ask one of you 30 00:02:16,960 --> 00:02:19,720 to talk about Zero Day a bit and how you got involved. 31 00:02:19,720 --> 00:02:27,720 But Nate is a Marine who is now with the Michigan Army National Guard in the role of a chaplain. 32 00:02:27,720 --> 00:02:29,320 That's an interesting transition. 33 00:02:29,320 --> 00:02:35,920 And with Zero Day, he's the director of veteran support projects. 34 00:02:35,920 --> 00:02:40,800 James Dettler is full-time with the Michigan International Guard, 35 00:02:40,800 --> 00:02:47,880 but spends his passionate time with the assistant manager of outdoor adventure therapy for Zero Day. 36 00:02:47,880 --> 00:02:55,760 Zero Day started in about 2012 with Chuck Ems and Tim Honeycutt getting together and saying, 37 00:02:55,760 --> 00:03:02,080 hey, there's a homeless veteran problem we've got to tackle, and they started tackling it. 38 00:03:02,080 --> 00:03:08,320 It's really expanded over the 10, 12 years at this point. 39 00:03:08,320 --> 00:03:14,640 Nate, why don't you start to tell us a little bit about Zero Day? 40 00:03:14,640 --> 00:03:17,200 Yeah, so I got involved with Zero Day. 41 00:03:17,200 --> 00:03:23,920 I was post my active duty time in the Marine Corps and was going to school 42 00:03:23,920 --> 00:03:29,600 and trying to find out kind of where I fit and met this guy, Tim Honeycutt. 43 00:03:29,600 --> 00:03:33,680 And he basically said, hey, do you want to go on a hunting trip? 44 00:03:33,680 --> 00:03:39,280 And started researching Zero Day a little bit, find out what they do. 45 00:03:39,280 --> 00:03:42,320 And it was kind of all downhill from there. 46 00:03:42,320 --> 00:03:47,080 I rode out in the vehicle with Tim about a 20-hour trip one way 47 00:03:47,080 --> 00:03:52,520 and just asked him all sorts of questions, got to know him, and find out what Zero Day is about. 48 00:03:52,520 --> 00:03:56,920 And then locked him in the truck for about a 20-hour drive on the way home 49 00:03:56,920 --> 00:03:59,400 and to figure out how I can be part of it. 50 00:03:59,400 --> 00:04:04,360 And so Zero Day, we do a whole bunch of different things. 51 00:04:04,360 --> 00:04:07,480 I work with a lot of our veteran support programs. 52 00:04:07,480 --> 00:04:12,960 We have our headquarters at Silver Star Apartments in Battle Creek, Michigan. 53 00:04:12,960 --> 00:04:20,080 Down there, Silver Star Apartments houses 175, has 175 units that house veterans 54 00:04:20,080 --> 00:04:23,080 that have been homeless or struggling with homelessness. 55 00:04:23,080 --> 00:04:25,960 And do some therapy down there. 56 00:04:25,960 --> 00:04:31,240 We do our outdoor adventure therapy and recreation. 57 00:04:31,240 --> 00:04:37,360 But what I've found probably the biggest thing about Zero Day is it meets our veterans 58 00:04:37,360 --> 00:04:43,040 where they are, wherever they are in life, figure out what their current reality is. 59 00:04:43,040 --> 00:04:46,480 And then we help them transition to focus on a personal life vision 60 00:04:46,480 --> 00:04:49,960 and build a bridge from where they are to where they want to go. 61 00:04:49,960 --> 00:04:53,760 Well, it's great timing here that this started with a hunting trip. 62 00:04:53,760 --> 00:04:58,240 We're talking to Nate and James during deer hunting season. 63 00:04:58,240 --> 00:05:03,240 Nate's already reported he's got a couple in the freezer this morning. 64 00:05:03,240 --> 00:05:08,600 So one for him and one from another guy. 65 00:05:08,600 --> 00:05:12,160 James is going out hunting later again today. 66 00:05:12,160 --> 00:05:18,680 So James, why don't we start with, how did you get involved with Zero Day? 67 00:05:18,680 --> 00:05:19,800 Well, Jim, I appreciate it. 68 00:05:19,800 --> 00:05:23,760 I think this story is almost identical actually. 69 00:05:23,760 --> 00:05:28,480 So another Zero Day member approached me and said, 70 00:05:28,480 --> 00:05:33,360 hey, you want to go out to Utah and go on an archery outcon. 71 00:05:33,360 --> 00:05:40,480 And I said, yeah, but I've been married for 12 years and I worked for the government. 72 00:05:40,480 --> 00:05:43,600 So I can't really afford to go out to Utah and go out hunting. 73 00:05:43,600 --> 00:05:45,760 And he's like, oh, it's all paid for. 74 00:05:45,760 --> 00:05:49,720 And I said, OK, what's the catch? 75 00:05:49,720 --> 00:05:53,000 And so the same thing, I rode out to Utah. 76 00:05:53,000 --> 00:05:57,560 So 20 hour drive in a vehicle and I asked a bunch of questions and then didn't really 77 00:05:57,560 --> 00:06:00,160 get too many answers from the people I rode out there with. 78 00:06:00,160 --> 00:06:08,120 But then I rode back with Nate and a couple other Zero Day guys and got some more answers. 79 00:06:08,120 --> 00:06:14,720 Prior to Zero Day, I'd been involved in some other nonprofits. 80 00:06:14,720 --> 00:06:18,840 And honestly, I won't name any names, but honestly, I haven't. 81 00:06:18,840 --> 00:06:22,280 I wasn't very impressed. 82 00:06:22,280 --> 00:06:28,600 There was some times where I thought that veterans were uncomfortable and that sometimes 83 00:06:28,600 --> 00:06:34,760 they were being used as PR tools. 84 00:06:34,760 --> 00:06:37,080 And I just wasn't OK with that. 85 00:06:37,080 --> 00:06:40,480 So I was kind of leery going into Zero Day. 86 00:06:40,480 --> 00:06:47,760 But I very quickly found out that the camaraderie and the sense of belonging that you get from 87 00:06:47,760 --> 00:06:57,360 Zero Day is absolutely what veterans are coming off active duty, what they're seeking. 88 00:06:57,360 --> 00:07:01,520 So being in the outdoors, that's my wheelhouse. 89 00:07:01,520 --> 00:07:02,760 I love it. 90 00:07:02,760 --> 00:07:06,440 And the outdoor adventure therapy stuff. 91 00:07:06,440 --> 00:07:10,400 And I think Nate can probably attest to this. 92 00:07:10,400 --> 00:07:13,200 It makes a huge impact. 93 00:07:13,200 --> 00:07:17,840 I think it allows veterans to open up. 94 00:07:17,840 --> 00:07:26,080 When you get another vet who's stubborn and prideful and doesn't want to air out their 95 00:07:26,080 --> 00:07:32,440 dirty laundry and let somebody else know that they need help, it's easier for them to talk 96 00:07:32,440 --> 00:07:35,680 to somebody that somewhat stands up. 97 00:07:35,680 --> 00:07:39,400 Other stubborn and prideful and grumpy veterans. 98 00:07:39,400 --> 00:07:43,880 I think you just characterized all of them. 99 00:07:43,880 --> 00:07:49,040 So I guess what I see is I see the outdoors, whether it's, I mean, we're fishing, we're 100 00:07:49,040 --> 00:07:56,480 camping, we're doing hunting, whatever we can do in outdoors. 101 00:07:56,480 --> 00:08:04,800 I see it as an avenue to let veterans open up and let us know what kind of help they 102 00:08:04,800 --> 00:08:06,040 need. 103 00:08:06,040 --> 00:08:10,640 And most of the time you don't get that unless you're sitting by a fire at base camp having 104 00:08:10,640 --> 00:08:12,960 a conversation. 105 00:08:12,960 --> 00:08:21,240 And James, there's a lot of real empirical research that the therapeutic value of this 106 00:08:21,240 --> 00:08:25,640 outdoor therapy, whether it be hunting or fishing. 107 00:08:25,640 --> 00:08:30,000 And zero days, not just here in Michigan. 108 00:08:30,000 --> 00:08:35,560 Give us some breadth and scope of the outdoor adventure therapy programs that you've been 109 00:08:35,560 --> 00:08:37,960 a part of. 110 00:08:37,960 --> 00:08:47,240 So yeah, we take an annual trip to, you went to mountains in Utah, we do an archery elk 111 00:08:47,240 --> 00:08:48,240 hunt. 112 00:08:48,240 --> 00:08:55,920 Usually that season is about 25 days and veterans will stagger in throughout the 25 days. 113 00:08:55,920 --> 00:09:00,600 Obviously, we're not asking them to leave their jobs and their family for that entire 114 00:09:00,600 --> 00:09:01,600 time. 115 00:09:01,600 --> 00:09:08,920 We usually, they stagger in and out and Tim, honeycut the CEO, he'll, he typically stays 116 00:09:08,920 --> 00:09:11,600 out there for the entire time. 117 00:09:11,600 --> 00:09:15,040 And we've had some pretty good success this year. 118 00:09:15,040 --> 00:09:19,720 I think we took 11 or 12 vets, correct me if I'm wrong, Nate, but I think we took 11 119 00:09:19,720 --> 00:09:25,080 or 12 and we had two elk harvested. 120 00:09:25,080 --> 00:09:28,800 So that was a pretty un-amazing trip. 121 00:09:28,800 --> 00:09:37,920 Also, we've had, we just sent, I think four or five vets to Kentucky on a bear hunt. 122 00:09:37,920 --> 00:09:41,720 We had one successful harvest there. 123 00:09:41,720 --> 00:09:45,960 We've done some hog hunting down south. 124 00:09:45,960 --> 00:09:49,840 I can't remember if that was, I wasn't a part of that, Nate, was that South Carolina, North 125 00:09:49,840 --> 00:09:50,840 Carolina? 126 00:09:50,840 --> 00:09:51,840 Where was that? 127 00:09:51,840 --> 00:09:53,840 Yeah, that was down in the Georgia area. 128 00:09:53,840 --> 00:09:54,840 Okay. 129 00:09:54,840 --> 00:09:55,840 So I stand corrected, apparently. 130 00:09:55,840 --> 00:10:02,040 I'm not very good with a map, but yeah, there were some down in Georgia. 131 00:10:02,040 --> 00:10:07,280 So there's no, there's no boundaries to zero day or the zero day outdoor adventure therapy 132 00:10:07,280 --> 00:10:08,520 program. 133 00:10:08,520 --> 00:10:12,480 We, we try to get out there as much as we can. 134 00:10:12,480 --> 00:10:18,600 And we've had numerous opportunities to get vets out on. 135 00:10:18,600 --> 00:10:24,000 And then every year I started, this year will be our third annual. 136 00:10:24,000 --> 00:10:27,760 We do a winter camping thing up north. 137 00:10:27,760 --> 00:10:30,880 It's just one of those bucket list things that I wanted to do. 138 00:10:30,880 --> 00:10:31,880 And we have a great time. 139 00:10:31,880 --> 00:10:37,360 We've done some, we just go up and we set up a couple of tents and put some heaters in 140 00:10:37,360 --> 00:10:38,360 them. 141 00:10:38,360 --> 00:10:43,720 And, and we hang out, we go coyote hunting and hang out by the fire. 142 00:10:43,720 --> 00:10:46,320 And it's been, it's been a pretty amazing experience. 143 00:10:46,320 --> 00:10:50,160 So this year in February, it'll be our third year of doing that. 144 00:10:50,160 --> 00:10:51,320 I haven't gotten Nate to go yet. 145 00:10:51,320 --> 00:10:52,720 I think he's afraid of the cold. 146 00:10:52,720 --> 00:10:57,720 Well, you know, those Marines, you know how they are, they're very delicate. 147 00:10:57,720 --> 00:11:05,320 Let's, let's talk a little bit about, as I said, zero day kind of started attacking 148 00:11:05,320 --> 00:11:08,800 the homeless problem that it saw in the Lansing area. 149 00:11:08,800 --> 00:11:14,080 And it's been involved in a lot of different, with a lot of different organizations on housing 150 00:11:14,080 --> 00:11:16,000 issues and construction projects. 151 00:11:16,000 --> 00:11:18,640 Nate, can you talk any about that? 152 00:11:18,640 --> 00:11:25,320 Yeah, some of it that happened at the Lansing was just a little bit before I actually came 153 00:11:25,320 --> 00:11:27,400 on with zero day. 154 00:11:27,400 --> 00:11:33,880 But I know that Tim Honeycutt, when he started with, with his partners, their, their intent 155 00:11:33,880 --> 00:11:40,720 was to begin teaching the construction trades to the veteran population in Lansing. 156 00:11:40,720 --> 00:11:45,720 And they would take on, they would take on projects and have those veterans come out 157 00:11:45,720 --> 00:11:52,640 and actually learn construction skills on the jobs that zero day was taking on. 158 00:11:52,640 --> 00:12:00,880 And now with our headquarters in Battle Creek, the, the apartment complex there has 175 units. 159 00:12:00,880 --> 00:12:06,600 And in order to live there, you have to be a veteran, a honorably served vet. 160 00:12:06,600 --> 00:12:10,040 And you also have to struggle with the homelessness side of things. 161 00:12:10,040 --> 00:12:18,240 So that facility is, is usually 80, 80 to 95% full. 162 00:12:18,240 --> 00:12:22,040 A lot of vets from Michigan, we've, when I first started working there, we had vets 163 00:12:22,040 --> 00:12:27,040 that were World War II era that were living there at the time. 164 00:12:27,040 --> 00:12:34,840 And now we actually just got a grant that is a, a grant to help with the homelessness 165 00:12:34,840 --> 00:12:35,840 side of things as well. 166 00:12:35,840 --> 00:12:41,840 So hopefully here in the next, the next several months or so, we'll be starting another project. 167 00:12:41,840 --> 00:12:48,000 We'd like to focus on single family dwellings because we're finding more and more families 168 00:12:48,000 --> 00:12:50,920 with, with kids that are dealing with the homelessness side of things. 169 00:12:50,920 --> 00:12:55,840 So we see that need and we're trying to step into that arena and provide some more housing 170 00:12:55,840 --> 00:12:56,840 for them as well. 171 00:12:56,840 --> 00:13:03,160 Well, I think that's something that a nonprofit like zero day can be more nimble about. 172 00:13:03,160 --> 00:13:08,720 Really homelessness among female veterans who often come along with some kids in tow, 173 00:13:08,720 --> 00:13:14,480 don't fit the model of, well, we've got a one unit that you can go to there. 174 00:13:14,480 --> 00:13:20,160 You really need that single family house for that kind of situation and that type of veteran, 175 00:13:20,160 --> 00:13:21,160 don't you? 176 00:13:21,160 --> 00:13:24,880 Yeah, you really do. 177 00:13:24,880 --> 00:13:29,840 Otherwise you end up having, you have in several families that are letting the, letting the 178 00:13:29,840 --> 00:13:33,320 veteran and their kids crash on the couch or in the basement, some along those lines, 179 00:13:33,320 --> 00:13:36,320 but living on top of each other. 180 00:13:36,320 --> 00:13:40,360 It adds to some of the different issues that we struggle with with veterans with the anger, 181 00:13:40,360 --> 00:13:45,720 the post-traumatic stress, any of those underlying factors that make it a little bit more difficult 182 00:13:45,720 --> 00:13:47,720 to stay in a house. 183 00:13:47,720 --> 00:13:55,120 Nate, tell us some more about, because beyond construction and helping vets get jobs and 184 00:13:55,120 --> 00:14:01,640 in that field and everything sort of associated with that housing issue, you've got a pretty 185 00:14:01,640 --> 00:14:05,880 wide array of veteran support programs. 186 00:14:05,880 --> 00:14:09,680 Can you talk about what zero day does in that area? 187 00:14:09,680 --> 00:14:16,600 Yeah, so a lot of our support programs actually, they kind of touch each other, I guess you'd 188 00:14:16,600 --> 00:14:23,240 say, like the outdoor adventure side that James is very intricately working in. 189 00:14:23,240 --> 00:14:28,520 We use that as a, maybe as an incubator for some of the other activities that we have 190 00:14:28,520 --> 00:14:29,520 going on. 191 00:14:29,520 --> 00:14:35,400 For instance, we have a family program that we do where we teach evidence-based practices 192 00:14:35,400 --> 00:14:38,520 for healthy parenting. 193 00:14:38,520 --> 00:14:45,200 And we use that to, well, we use that to help soldiers and veterans become better parents 194 00:14:45,200 --> 00:14:48,400 because they want to be a good dad or a good mom. 195 00:14:48,400 --> 00:14:55,280 And one of the ways that we can help supplement that or encourage that is having them go out 196 00:14:55,280 --> 00:15:01,720 and do a fishing trip together or do a bow hunt together, something like that. 197 00:15:01,720 --> 00:15:05,960 But the programs are distinctly separate. 198 00:15:05,960 --> 00:15:13,320 We also are, we've just rolled out a new system, we call it the NOS system. 199 00:15:13,320 --> 00:15:17,400 It's a mental health assessment and a social determinant assessment. 200 00:15:17,400 --> 00:15:22,000 And the social determinant piece is what are the resources in the community that might 201 00:15:22,000 --> 00:15:24,760 help offset some of the anxiety, some of the stress. 202 00:15:24,760 --> 00:15:29,720 Let's say we have a veteran that's trying to keep a roof over their heads and they're 203 00:15:29,720 --> 00:15:32,440 struggling to keep the lights on. 204 00:15:32,440 --> 00:15:36,760 Well, based off of their zip code, we can begin to work with that veteran on finding 205 00:15:36,760 --> 00:15:41,600 additional resources to help keep the lights on, keep a roof over their head and that 206 00:15:41,600 --> 00:15:42,600 type of thing. 207 00:15:42,600 --> 00:15:43,600 Yeah. 208 00:15:43,600 --> 00:15:48,720 I want to touch on both of those things for a minute because as you talk about being a 209 00:15:48,720 --> 00:15:52,600 healthy parenting and saying, hey, we're going to take the whole family on a fishing trip 210 00:15:52,600 --> 00:15:58,080 or a bow hunting trip, part of what you do here is take the financial pressure off so 211 00:15:58,080 --> 00:16:03,800 that they can actually enjoy that trip, which they probably wouldn't be able to do without 212 00:16:03,800 --> 00:16:05,760 the financial support, correct? 213 00:16:05,760 --> 00:16:08,280 Yeah, that's correct. 214 00:16:08,280 --> 00:16:12,880 And on the mental health side of things, I think there's a lot of services out there, 215 00:16:12,880 --> 00:16:19,840 but the challenge is always that connection or networking to the appropriate available 216 00:16:19,840 --> 00:16:21,200 providers. 217 00:16:21,200 --> 00:16:26,560 And it sounds like that's what you're doing is not so much recreating the whole mental 218 00:16:26,560 --> 00:16:33,520 health therapy, environment or ecosystem, but making sure that veterans who need that 219 00:16:33,520 --> 00:16:38,160 help can, you kind of plug them into it, if I understand it. 220 00:16:38,160 --> 00:16:46,200 Yeah, so we try to use our network to help those soldiers and veterans actually be able 221 00:16:46,200 --> 00:16:50,040 to walk through the door knowing that this entity that they're going to talk to is a 222 00:16:50,040 --> 00:16:52,720 veteran friendly entity. 223 00:16:52,720 --> 00:16:58,160 The other side of that is with James and what he's doing at the outdoor recreation side 224 00:16:58,160 --> 00:17:05,440 or outdoor therapy side is the research is showing that I think it's a half hour a day, 225 00:17:05,440 --> 00:17:11,240 half hour to 90 minutes a day, like four days, four or five days a week in the outdoors being 226 00:17:11,240 --> 00:17:13,080 gulfed in the outdoors. 227 00:17:13,080 --> 00:17:18,720 That actually over time begins to reduce post-traumatic symptoms, post-traumatic stress symptoms 228 00:17:18,720 --> 00:17:23,280 by close to 30%, which is phenomenal. 229 00:17:23,280 --> 00:17:26,320 So we begin to take a holistic approach. 230 00:17:26,320 --> 00:17:30,880 If you're in the outdoors, if you're in nature and the stress and anxiety begins to come 231 00:17:30,880 --> 00:17:35,760 down, if you are connected with a therapist or a chaplain or somebody that's willing to 232 00:17:35,760 --> 00:17:42,040 talk to you and work through some of the more intricate issues, and you begin to alleviate 233 00:17:42,040 --> 00:17:47,920 some of the stressors of everyday life by helping keep the lights on, well, now we're 234 00:17:47,920 --> 00:17:52,280 starting to actually build quality of life for our veteran population. 235 00:17:52,280 --> 00:17:57,880 I want to point out to veteran radio listeners, because you may know somebody out there who 236 00:17:57,880 --> 00:18:03,880 needs some help in zero day may be the right place to go to, but what Nate just mentioned 237 00:18:03,880 --> 00:18:09,800 and James talked a little bit about too is that zero day is involved in making sure there's 238 00:18:09,800 --> 00:18:17,040 what I call a warm handoff from the veteran who needs a certain type of assistance to somebody 239 00:18:17,040 --> 00:18:21,400 at the other end who's veteran friendly, who knows how to work with veterans in these 240 00:18:21,400 --> 00:18:22,400 kind of situations. 241 00:18:22,400 --> 00:18:26,440 It's not walking in and doing a cold call and saying, hey, I need some help. 242 00:18:26,440 --> 00:18:30,160 This really is a warm handoff, isn't it, Nate? 243 00:18:30,160 --> 00:18:32,720 Yes and no. 244 00:18:32,720 --> 00:18:38,200 The idea of helping walk them into a place where they need help, for sure. 245 00:18:38,200 --> 00:18:46,160 The other side is we don't seem to lose too many of our veterans in the zero day space. 246 00:18:46,160 --> 00:18:53,880 James and myself, for instance, once we started getting where we needed to be, we began to 247 00:18:53,880 --> 00:18:56,160 ingrain zero day into our everyday lives. 248 00:18:56,160 --> 00:19:03,760 So, even with them going to see a counselor or getting their house put back together, 249 00:19:03,760 --> 00:19:09,040 whatever it might be, they stay in contact with zero day in some way, shape or form. 250 00:19:09,040 --> 00:19:14,160 Some more than others, some longer than others, but I haven't seen too many people that have 251 00:19:14,160 --> 00:19:17,040 just walked out of our space and never come back. 252 00:19:17,040 --> 00:19:21,160 Well, that's a testament to how well it works. 253 00:19:21,160 --> 00:19:27,240 James, can you talk a little bit about how many outdoor therapy programs zero day puts 254 00:19:27,240 --> 00:19:28,240 on in a year? 255 00:19:28,240 --> 00:19:29,240 Is it two? 256 00:19:29,240 --> 00:19:32,240 Is it ten? 257 00:19:32,240 --> 00:19:35,800 How does the size of the program work and maybe how many veterans do you get to touch 258 00:19:35,800 --> 00:19:38,800 in a year? 259 00:19:38,800 --> 00:19:40,600 I don't think we have a specific number. 260 00:19:40,600 --> 00:19:42,840 We have our annual trips that we do. 261 00:19:42,840 --> 00:19:46,560 I mentioned the Utah elk trip and the winter camping thing. 262 00:19:46,560 --> 00:19:52,560 The Utah elk trip, I think they've been doing that seven, eight years now, pretty close 263 00:19:52,560 --> 00:19:55,280 to since the beginning. 264 00:19:55,280 --> 00:20:03,560 And then the winter camping thing, those are typically the only scheduled events that are 265 00:20:03,560 --> 00:20:04,560 scheduled annually. 266 00:20:04,560 --> 00:20:11,440 The rest of the stuff is mostly based around seasons and fishing times, whatever the times 267 00:20:11,440 --> 00:20:15,800 are available and what opportunities come our way. 268 00:20:15,800 --> 00:20:21,160 I think a lot of everything we do is based off of grant writing. 269 00:20:21,160 --> 00:20:27,480 So the funding for a lot of that stuff is all based off of grant writing. 270 00:20:27,480 --> 00:20:36,120 I've dabbled a little bit in the grant writing space since I got into zero day. 271 00:20:36,120 --> 00:20:42,120 But like you said, the intent for that stuff is to get the families involved. 272 00:20:42,120 --> 00:20:48,560 Actually, my wife and I did a fishing trip last year. 273 00:20:48,560 --> 00:20:53,800 Just her and I and a guide that zero day took care of for us. 274 00:20:53,800 --> 00:20:55,040 And it was pretty awesome. 275 00:20:55,040 --> 00:21:00,520 My wife tells me I'm a better person when I'm in the outdoors and involved with zero 276 00:21:00,520 --> 00:21:01,520 day. 277 00:21:01,520 --> 00:21:07,280 So I think that the sky's the limit really. 278 00:21:07,280 --> 00:21:14,640 I mean, we have a foundation for an outdoor therapy program, but if somebody had an idea 279 00:21:14,640 --> 00:21:22,120 and said, hey, we want to do a white water rafting trip or we want to hike the Appalachian 280 00:21:22,120 --> 00:21:25,600 Trail, whatever, the sky's the limit. 281 00:21:25,600 --> 00:21:29,840 I think Tim would entertain it and enable us. 282 00:21:29,840 --> 00:21:33,400 I say this all the time that Tim's an enabler. 283 00:21:33,400 --> 00:21:37,600 And a lot of times that's taken in a negative context. 284 00:21:37,600 --> 00:21:40,480 And in this case, it's not. 285 00:21:40,480 --> 00:21:46,760 At some point, I think you have to sometimes reel in the veterans. 286 00:21:46,760 --> 00:21:52,520 If you got a guy that's working in a factory, he's underemployed. 287 00:21:52,520 --> 00:22:00,400 And his goal in life in 10 years is to be an astronaut heading to the moon. 288 00:22:00,400 --> 00:22:04,160 You might need to bring him back down to the reality. 289 00:22:04,160 --> 00:22:08,160 But for the most part, this sky's the limit. 290 00:22:08,160 --> 00:22:12,400 And whatever these guys want to do, the network that Nate talked about. 291 00:22:12,400 --> 00:22:13,400 Yeah. 292 00:22:13,400 --> 00:22:14,400 Tim and Nate. 293 00:22:14,400 --> 00:22:15,400 Yeah. 294 00:22:15,400 --> 00:22:20,400 Part of this, it seems like to me, James and Nate, is that zero day has been able to 295 00:22:20,400 --> 00:22:26,080 partner, as you mentioned, James, with a lot of other nonprofits and organizations to 296 00:22:26,080 --> 00:22:28,600 help accomplish the goal. 297 00:22:28,600 --> 00:22:32,920 And Nate, do you see that in the counseling and therapy that you do? 298 00:22:32,920 --> 00:22:36,800 And maybe just, is that inbred into the DNA of zero day? 299 00:22:36,800 --> 00:22:38,840 Is that partnering aspect? 300 00:22:38,840 --> 00:22:39,840 Yeah. 301 00:22:39,840 --> 00:22:47,960 The partnering aspect, the way that we approach things is we look at the veteran and we take 302 00:22:47,960 --> 00:22:50,000 that look at their current reality. 303 00:22:50,000 --> 00:22:52,240 Where are you right now? 304 00:22:52,240 --> 00:22:56,880 And then like James was saying, sometimes when we look at the personal vision, where 305 00:22:56,880 --> 00:22:57,880 do they want to go? 306 00:22:57,880 --> 00:23:01,560 We need to make it help them feel a little bit more realistically. 307 00:23:01,560 --> 00:23:06,560 But we meet that veteran where they are currently, where they currently are in their life, in 308 00:23:06,560 --> 00:23:08,280 their family, in their job. 309 00:23:08,280 --> 00:23:10,160 And then we help them build that bridge. 310 00:23:10,160 --> 00:23:13,960 And for some, it's making that connection with a therapist. 311 00:23:13,960 --> 00:23:17,880 For some, it's a parenting class. 312 00:23:17,880 --> 00:23:23,600 For others, it might be let's rework your resume or what are the other job opportunities 313 00:23:23,600 --> 00:23:26,520 to move from a job to a career. 314 00:23:26,520 --> 00:23:30,840 But it's a focus on the individual person and the individual family. 315 00:23:30,840 --> 00:23:36,560 And then finding the resources that help build that puzzle and put that puzzle together. 316 00:23:36,560 --> 00:23:44,400 Well, it's obviously been a successful program or set of programs and continues to expand. 317 00:23:44,400 --> 00:23:51,200 If folks are interested in knowing more about zero day, where would you direct them? 318 00:23:51,200 --> 00:23:53,520 Yeah. 319 00:23:53,520 --> 00:23:57,200 I would direct them to our website, zero-day.us. 320 00:23:57,200 --> 00:24:05,280 If you get on there, you'll get a pretty good idea of the wide range of variety of 321 00:24:05,280 --> 00:24:07,440 things that we do. 322 00:24:07,440 --> 00:24:09,680 You can also contact Zero Day through that website. 323 00:24:09,680 --> 00:24:13,200 That's probably the best and easiest way to do that. 324 00:24:13,200 --> 00:24:17,440 And again, if folks are out there and say, hey, I'd like to contribute and help support 325 00:24:17,440 --> 00:24:22,040 maybe some of the programs that James is doing or some of the work that Nate is doing, I 326 00:24:22,040 --> 00:24:27,760 assume that they could also donate resources. 327 00:24:27,760 --> 00:24:32,440 Maybe it's an opportunity for a fish in or a camp and trip or something by going through 328 00:24:32,440 --> 00:24:33,440 the website. 329 00:24:33,440 --> 00:24:35,440 Is that right, James? 330 00:24:35,440 --> 00:24:37,440 Yeah, absolutely. 331 00:24:37,440 --> 00:24:48,240 They can reach out via email or phone from the website and reach most of us. 332 00:24:48,240 --> 00:24:52,000 Is there, as we close out here, are there any of your partners? 333 00:24:52,000 --> 00:24:56,280 Or donors that you want to give a shout out to because they've really supported these 334 00:24:56,280 --> 00:24:57,280 projects for you. 335 00:24:57,280 --> 00:25:00,000 We always like to give them a little air time. 336 00:25:00,000 --> 00:25:05,480 Yeah, the PATH Foundation has been a big supporter of ours. 337 00:25:05,480 --> 00:25:09,600 They do some great stuff in the outdoors, and they like what we're doing with our veteran 338 00:25:09,600 --> 00:25:10,600 population. 339 00:25:10,600 --> 00:25:12,920 And it seemed to be a seamless fit. 340 00:25:12,920 --> 00:25:15,840 They've always been a good partner for us. 341 00:25:15,840 --> 00:25:22,440 Well, as I say, you can't do this kind of work without good partnerships and good people 342 00:25:22,440 --> 00:25:24,440 supporting you. 343 00:25:24,440 --> 00:25:29,600 Nate Cropsey, James Dentler, we're glad you took a little time today to talk to Veterans 344 00:25:29,600 --> 00:25:36,000 Radio and explain what Zero Day is involved in and why it's so successful. 345 00:25:36,000 --> 00:25:39,200 We wish you both the best of luck out on the hunt. 346 00:25:39,200 --> 00:25:42,040 And thanks for your time today. 347 00:25:42,040 --> 00:25:44,040 Yep, thank you. 348 00:25:44,040 --> 00:25:46,240 Yeah, appreciate your time. 349 00:25:46,240 --> 00:25:47,240 Thanks. 350 00:25:47,240 --> 00:25:50,120 And I want to thank everybody for listening to Veterans Radio today. 351 00:25:50,120 --> 00:25:51,720 I am Jim Fawcone. 352 00:25:51,720 --> 00:25:54,000 It's been a pleasure to be your host. 353 00:25:54,000 --> 00:25:58,760 I'm a Veterans Disability Lawyer at Legal Help for Veterans, and you can reach us at 354 00:25:58,760 --> 00:26:06,320 800-6934800 or legalhelpforveterans.com on the web. 355 00:26:06,320 --> 00:26:11,200 You can follow Veterans Radio on Facebook and listen to its podcasts and internet radio 356 00:26:11,200 --> 00:26:12,200 shows. 357 00:26:12,200 --> 00:26:15,840 By visiting us at veteransradio.org. 358 00:26:15,840 --> 00:26:18,560 That's veteransradio.org. 359 00:26:18,560 --> 00:26:21,760 And until next time, you are dismissed. 360 00:26:21,760 --> 00:26:26,200 If you have a VA claim denied by the Board of Veterans Appeals, contact Legal Help for 361 00:26:26,200 --> 00:26:30,440 Veterans at 1-800-6934800. 362 00:26:30,440 --> 00:26:34,440 They're experts in handling cases before the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. 363 00:26:34,440 --> 00:26:38,400 Their number again, 1-800-6934800. 364 00:26:38,400 --> 00:26:44,000 You again want to thank our national sponsors, the National Veterans Business Development 365 00:26:44,000 --> 00:26:52,840 Council, NVBDC.org, VA Ann Arbor Health Care System, the Vietnam Veterans of America, 366 00:26:52,840 --> 00:27:01,920 Charles S. 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