PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Alicia Kershaw, Executive Director of GallopNYC
1:35:54
·
3 min
Alicia Kershaw, Executive Director of GallopNYC, testified about their therapeutic horsemanship programs for veterans and their families. She shared personal stories of veterans who have benefited from their services and highlighted the program's multi-generational approach and positive outcomes.
- GallopNYC welcomes veterans and their families without restrictions on age, branch, conflict, or discharge status.
- The program has seen remarkable changes in veterans and their families, including improved family bonding and mental health.
- GallopNYC is developing relationships with VA hospitals and is interested in research and measuring outcomes for veterans in their program.
Alicia Kershaw
1:35:54
Director, my name is Alicia Kirschaw.
1:35:56
I'm the executive director of Galb M Y C.
1:36:00
We provide therapeutic coursemanship programs to veterans and their families.
1:36:05
I first would like to thank the committee and the council for the past financial support of our program, and council member Holden for coming to visit our program, which was very, very much appreciated.
1:36:19
My dad also was veteran and also suffered quite a bit from it, though I don't think anyone realized it till many years after the fact.
1:36:30
Gallup welcomes veterans of and their families with no restrictions as to age or branch or conflict or discharge.
1:36:42
We are multi generational.
1:36:44
We we have veterans riding with their children.
1:36:48
And and that I have a prepared statement, but I'm not I'll submit that for the record because what I'd really like to do is just tell you about a few of our veterans and their families.
1:37:02
I am steeped in using horses as a therapeutic approach, but I realized for some people that's kind of an oddball thing frankly.
1:37:14
But it it really is remarkable program.
1:37:19
1 of our veterans, man named Juan Corona, rides with his wife and his 2 children.
1:37:25
And he recently spoke at a fundraising event about how important it was for him to have the opportunity to bond with his family after being separated from them in so many overseas assignments he had he had been in Iraq and Afghanistan.
1:37:41
I was at the program the other day, and I met a woman veteran who is riding with her child who is on the spectrum.
1:37:49
And so we are able to provide we work primarily with children on the autism spectrum.
1:37:55
So we're able to provide services relevant services to him as well as to her.
1:38:02
We also have a veteran named Noel Griffin who when he came to us, I think he would describe himself as being depressed to call the having a lot of dark days.
1:38:14
And he was at our program one day.
1:38:18
He was trying to he's been trying for quite a while to make friends with this one particular horse named Misty.
1:38:23
And Misty is not like a lot of veterans is not quick to trust.
1:38:29
But on one of what Noel described as his very dark days, Misty came up to him and nudged him and stayed with him during the time he was with us.
1:38:40
Noel is now he's a spokesman for us.
1:38:43
He is a mentor to new veterans coming into our program.
1:38:46
He is, without exaggeration, a completely changed person from this experience with our program.
1:38:53
And he was encouraged to come by his sister and his 2 nieces.
1:38:57
So he he has a family element too.
1:39:01
Just picking up quickly on some of the things that were mentioned.
1:39:04
We do measure outcomes with our veterans, and we have a a menu of of outcomes that we look for in addition to writing skills, and we're very interested in research.
1:39:16
And we have growing connections with the VA.
1:39:19
We get referrals from the Manhattan VA now, and we're starting work with groups, mental health groups from the Brooklyn VA.
1:39:25
And these are relatively new relationships and very gratifying because like I say, we really see remarkable changes in our and their families when they're at our program.
1:39:36
So thank you very much.
Robert F. Holden
1:39:37
And that program should be expanded, by the way, because it it doesn't you know, the horses like some people who say, well, what does a horse going do.
