Helping veterans, one hike at a time
Open Doors Outdoors ‘just made sense,’ says Glastonbury founder
For returning military veterans, the transition back to civilian life can be challenging. In addition to coping with physical injuries, military veterans are often dealing with mental health issues, including symptoms of depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder.
“That transition can be really tough,” said Justin Walters, a U.S. Navy veteran who recently moved from Glastonbury to Colorado. “The biggest thing you lose is camaraderie and that sense of teamwork. You don’t really get that in the civilian world.”
Walters first heard of the local veteran nonprofit organization Open Doors Outdoors while taking part in a pull-up challenge organized by the owner of Mission Fitness, Matthew Mund, to raise money for the group.
The Glastonbury-based nonprofit serves veterans, their families and young people by taking them into the outdoors for a shared sense of connection, healthy activity and healing, according to their website.
“When I first heard about the organization, I immediately knew I wanted to be a part of it,” Walters said. “Once I met the team, we immediately clicked. From there, I started hiking with them and I really got back that sense of camaraderie I had lost.”
Open Doors Outdoors was founded by Glastonbury resident Davey Edwards, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran and mortgage banker. Edwards, an ultra-runner who ran across Connecticut in 2019 and 2022 (both times in 41 hours), started the organization on a journey of personal healing.
“I was in a bad place,” Edwards said. “About seven years ago, I was going through a divorce and landed on a rough patch financially. I had a 5-year-old son then and we would go hiking together. I realized it was the form of connection and therapy I needed at that point in my life.”
“When you are hiking, there’s a lot of similarities to the military . ... you’ve got veterans from all branches of service working together. You get that shared sense of purpose ... That’s what makes it so rewarding.” — Martin Sheridan, U.S. Army veteran
After taking several hikes across the state, Edwards got the idea for the organization after realizing some of his fellow veterans were also going through similar challenges.
“It really just made sense,” Edwards said, “so I started to organize hikes all across New England and eventually more veterans joined just through word of mouth. We’ve done a lot of hiking since.”
In 2021, Open Doors Outdoors completed 36 outings and had 122,124 feet of elevation gain, which is equivalent to hiking from the base camp on Mount Everest to its summit almost 10 times, according to the nonprofit’s website.
“I found a community in this organization,” said Martin Sheridan, a U.S. Army veteran who joined the organization earlier this year. “When you are hiking, there’s a lot of similarities to the military. On the hike, you’ve got veterans from all branches of service working together. You get that shared sense of purpose by coming together and accomplishing a tough hike or overcoming a physical challenge. That’s what makes it so rewarding.”
Edwards said that a lot of the new veterans who join the organization and aren’t that accustomed to hiking will sometimes not realize how challenging some of the elevation and terrain can be. Edwards ensures that each hike is tailored to how experienced each veteran is, holding several hikes throughout the year with varying degrees of difficulty.
“You’ll see a lot of times some newer members struggle with some of the hikes,” Edwards said, “but we encourage everybody and work together as a team. The focus is to cheer each other on. Our veteran hikes are designed to take small groups of veterans out on the trail together. The veteran hiking program is designed to have hikes which increase in difficulty as the individual becomes comfortable on the trail and sometimes includes hikes out of state.”
In addition to hiking, the group just received a $25,000 grant from the Sestero family of Glastonbury and The Hartford Foundation for Public Giving to purchase a 2021 Polaris General XP 4 1000 Utility Terrain Vehicle. This UTV will be used to take veterans, families and children into the outdoors around a dedicated tract of farmland in South Glastonbury. The group, which started the UTV program in 2021, has already seen it explode in popularity.
Walters, who has two children on the autism spectrum, said seeing them ride on the UTV was a very positive experience.
“They loved it,” Walter said. “They could just go be themselves, relax and let their guard down a bit. There’s no rush or line or anything to overwhelm them. It’s a shared experience where parents don’t have to worry about watching their kids and can sit back and enjoy it as well.”
Any resident of Glastonbury with children can apply to ride on the UTV through an application on the organization’s website.
“Our UTV program has truly blossomed,” said Edwards. “Their response was simply amazing. It was clear this could help many more children. This Sestero grant will not only benefit more kids on the autism spectrum but also families who can participate in these activities together.”