New Mexico is home to 150,000 veterans, about a tenth of whom have disabilities. KSFR used this project an opportunity to highlight local innovative programs who assist disabled veterans with their re-entry into civilian life. The story focuses on a particularly innovative program titled, “Horses for Heroes Cowboy Up,” which puts veterans and horses together for therapy purpose. KSFR brought in Navajo veteran Alroy Billiman who successfully integrated into civilian life through this program and now trains horses on the Navajo reservation to be used in the program. Alroy, who came back from Afghanistan missing an arm, designed a prothesis that is specialized for riding and training horses.
KSFR is located at Santa Fe Community College and, in partnership with the college’s Veterans Resource Center, assisted in developing a job fair for veterans that included a screening of the stories, speakers and entertainment for the veterans and their families in November 2018. The job fair and program were well-received in the community and drew more than 300 participants. Our goal is to continue to provide stories about veterans, resources and be able to help the Veterans Resource Center with another job fair program.