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A new mission
Retired Command Sgt. Major Lamont “Chris” Christian, director of the Warrior PATHH program, leads veterans and first responders into battle against post-traumatic stress at the Big Red Barn Retreat.
Photo by Andrew Haworth
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On the PATHH
Warrior PATHH guides, led by program director Lamont Christian, center, complete their labyrinth walk at the Big Red Barn Retreat.
Photo by Andrew Haworth
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Leading the way
Warrior PATHH guide Sarah Ziaja, a medically retired Air Force veteran, calls the Big Red Barn a “sanctuary in a world of craziness.” A graduate of the program, she credits PATHH for bringing renewed purpose to her civilian life. “Being part of this team and community is the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done,” she says. “I know I’ve made a difference and for me, that’s my shining glory.”
Photo by Andrew Haworth
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A beacon of hope
The namesake barn is one of the first things veterans and first responder see when they arrive at the retreat center near Blythewood for classes or residential programs.
Photo by Andrew Haworth
Here, pain is often the common denominator.
The veterans, first responders and their families who—sometimes begrudgingly—seek shelter at the Big Red Barn Retreat in Blythewood may be suffering from post-traumatic stress, a physical injury, anxiety, depression or grief. They are young and old. Some are still in service. At the Big Red Barn Retreat, they all find peace.
Located on 75 acres off Winnsboro Road in Richland County, the nonprofit retreat offers free healing programs based on equine therapy, meditation, art and music therapy, gardening, yoga, Tai Chi, and peer-to-peer mentoring. Visitors who pass through the gates are treated to a glimpse of the fire-engine-red barn itself, which is surrounded by five miles of nature trails and lush horse pastures.
The retreat is one of only 10 locations in the nation to offer the Warrior PATHH program, a breakthrough residency initiative that teaches self-care practices to veterans and first responders. Participants say the program saves lives and restores self-worth to men and women who have lived a large portion of their lives in service, says Sutton Shaw, executive director.
“It's a special breed that signs up to be in the military, or to be a first responder. They want to help; they run toward the danger,” Shaw says. “We’ve just got to train them to thrive in a civilian world, and it’s possible with this program.”
‘Are you fighting back?’
PATHH program director Lamont “Chris” Christian says the retreat’s focus on “post-traumatic growth” helps veterans and first responders “create a better version” of themselves by making each day better than the one before it.
“At the end of the day, are you doing something to take care of yourself?” Christian asks participants. “Are you fighting back? That’s what post-traumatic growth is about.”
Since 2014, the retreat has been a place of healing for military members and their families. It was founded by Shaw’s mother, Barbara, in honor of her husband Leon Irons, a Navy veteran who passed away in 2009. Horseback riding became a form of therapy for Shaw and her mother, who was compelled to purchase land and create a retreat to help veterans heal.
“We started simple, with equine therapy, yoga and Tai Chi, and then it just started growing, with art and music,” Shaw says. “We became this place where these nontraditional programs could live.”
Many veterans begin by just talking to their peers over coffee at the Barn. It lets participants blow off steam with others who understand their struggle firsthand. When they are ready to branch out, there is a diverse range of activities and classes they can select to bring them inner peace. The classes and services are free for veterans, active-duty service members, and their spouses.
The new Warrior PATHH program incorporates many of the services offered at the retreat. PATHH, which stands for “progressive and alternate training for healing heroes,” connects the services together like “puzzle pieces,” Shaw says.
“For anyone getting out of the military, generally the struggles are when you come home,” she says. “It's that one bump that’s going to come in life when your bucket’s full. And it could be that one moment that tips it over for you.”
PATHH’s director Christian knows that tipping point well. The Brooklyn, New York, native spent his life in the Army, rising to the rank of Command Sgt. Major at Fort Jackson in Columbia. He became known worldwide as “America’s Drill Sergeant” and was even featured in a Gatorade commercial.
But shortly after he retired, his 22-year-old daughter took her own life, and Christian experienced emotional trauma on a level he’d never imagined. After years spent helping soldiers, he felt like he couldn’t help his own daughter.
“How do you get past that?” he says. “It was overwhelming me. I was drowning in it. On the outside, I’m Chris; inside, it was a terrible state of mind.”
PATHH was developed by the veteran-led Boulder Crest Foundation. Shaw, who had heard about Warrior PATHH, told Christian about the program. When he attended a class in Arizona, Christian found a new purpose.
“It’s an intense seven-day program. It’s training, it’s not therapy, it’s not some psychoanalysis,” he says. “We retrain ourselves to recognize how much of a situation is in our control. We learn to respond in a way that will allow us to continue past whatever it is.”
When Shaw asked Christian to lead a Warrior PATHH program at the Big Red Barn, he immediately recruited California resident and 14-year Army Ranger Jason Dersch to help. The men met during the Arizona PATHH class and shared an immediate connection.
Dersch entered the service at age 18, and from 2001 to 2009 served on multiple combat deployments. He says his problems stemmed from readjusting to life when he finally returned home. He spent the next decade wandering, riding a motorcycle across the nation and into Mexico, becoming a chef and restaurateur, and spent two years as a barber.
“Outward, I was perfectly fine. Internally, I was torn up,” he says. “The key to that jail cell was in my pocket the whole time. They taught us how to find that key.”
When Dersch got the call to help at the Big Red Barn, he didn’t hesitate. He drove cross-country and bought a house in Blythewood. That’s a testament to the power of the PATHH program, he says.
“They make sure we understand we’re not broken,” Dersch says. “It’s about what happened, and finding profound strength from our struggle, and ultimately finding the purpose of how we can give back.”
New missions
Warrior PATHH candidates apply for the program online and undergo a phone interview. If selected, they attend free of charge. Meals and even transportation are paid for.
Participants arrive in groups of six to eight and live in the retreat’s luxury log cabin lodge during seven days of training on dealing with the challenges of daily civilian life and shared experiences such as hiking, archery and meditation.
“We might talk about how life has its narrow paths and it’s hard to navigate, then we might go walk into the woods,” Christian says. “With the literal and metaphorical application of that, the student can work on their ability to make decisions and better choices. There are no bad or good challenges in life. There’s just challenges.”
The program continues with online classes, assignments and wellness checks for 18 months after participants leave the Big Red Barn.
Service members are often referred to programs at the Big Red Barn by their therapists or Veterans Affairs doctors. Many, like Army veteran Sgt. Carla Walters, are skeptical until they take advantage of the programs.
Walters, who served in both the Gulf War and Operation Iraqi Freedom, lost her husband and her mother within months. Then she received a cancer diagnosis and lost her job not long after. She says she “couldn’t see a way out,” and that was when a friend suggested she visit the Big Red Barn.
“It was the best decision I’ve made in my life,” Walters says. She found solace in walking the labyrinth, located near the retreat’s pond, which is nestled amid interconnected walking trails. Labyrinth walking is an ancient meditative practice designed to quiet the mind.
“Something in there connected,” she says. The walk gave her time to reflect on her service and start the healing process. Just because she returned home from war, didn’t mean the battle stopped. The Warrior PATHH program taught her coping skills that she now shares as a program guide.
Navy veteran Russell Smith first came to the Big Red Barn in 2019 at the suggestion of his therapist. He began attending morning coffee meetups and later completed the Warrior PATHH program.
“It taught me different practices for when I'm feeling overstressed,” Smith says. “It gives you that inner peace, that separation, so when something ticks you off, it gives you a chance to sit back and think about what you’re going to say before you say it.”
Like Walters, Smith decided to give back. A culinary school graduate, Smith is one of the chefs who prepares meals for PATHH attendees.
“I get to see these people come in like I was, broken, heads down, not talking, and by the end of the week, they are joyful,” he says. “It’s good to see the change in people.”
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Get More
To learn about the retreat’s programs or ways to help support veterans, call (803) 716-9097 or e-mail info@thebigredbarnretreat.org. For more information on the Warrior PATHH programs, visit thebigredbarnretreat.org/warrior-pathh.
The Big Red Barn Retreat is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) and operates entirely from the generosity of its supporters, community partners and from the proceeds of an annual country music fundraising concert. To learn more, visit thebigredbarnretreat.org.
This year’s fundraiser, the Fall Jam at the Ball Park, takes place Oct. 9 at Columbia’s Segra Park, and features county music star Craig Morgan (“That’s What I Love about Sundays,” “Redneck Yacht Club,” “International Harvester”). For concert details and advanced-purchase tickets, visit thebigredbarnretreat.org/fall-jam.