CHESAPEAKE, Va. (WAVY) — For more than five years now, days on the farm for Kayla Arestivo have meant days trying to help veterans work through trauma.
As a licensed professional councilor and co-founder of Trails of Purpose, a 501c3 nonprofit charitable organization, she has made it her mission to make sure veterans can find therapy through a connection with horses.
The demand in a region that boasts the 12th largest veteran population in the nation was so great, she and her husband Kyle opened up a second location in Virginia Beach last year.
But recently, she realized there was still a gap in services for those who also step up to give the ultimate sacrifice: first responders.
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“We have been very focused on serving the military population,” Arestivo said. “That’s been our exclusive focus. But we had a veteran that came through our program, he’s a military veteran turned firefighter. When he went through one of our other 12 week programs, he had such an impact that he thought, ‘Well, this can’t just be for me.’ And when I heard his story of how he was impacted and he was pretty on fire about it, I decided, you know, maybe that’s something that we need to pilot and try out.”