Healing in the Heartland

An old farm now has a new life serving America’s veterans.

Located in the peaceful unincorporated community of Shibley’s Point, about 17 miles north of Kirksville, Mo., Guardian Hills Veterans Healing Center offers rural retreats for members of the military struggling with mental health issues. Surrounded by nature, horses, art and outdoor recreation, participants spend one week living at the farm and immersing themselves in self-reflection and therapeutic education provided by a caring team of expert staff, mentors and volunteers. The entire experience is provided free of charge to veterans of all eras.

“We are not a treatment facility. We are a retreat facility where we help veterans establish healthy responses to their feelings and then connect them to professionals who can give them the care they need,” said Dan Slawski, an Air Force veteran who founded Guardian Hills in 2018 with his wife, Jo. “Often the hardest part with veterans is getting them to the point where they admit they need help. In the military, we’re taught to be independent, to put yourself last, put the mission first. Here, we’re helping people realize that they’re not isolated. There are other people going through the same things.”

The Guardian Hills campus is situated on a 750-acre former working farm that the Slawskis, both Missouri natives, purchased in the aftermath of 9/11. At the time, Dan was working as an orthopedic surgeon and sports medicine specialist at the University of Nebraska, and he and Jo first used the serene, secluded property as their personal getaway until they began to imagine a higher purpose.

“In my practice, I was seeing more and more National Guard and Reserve members who had been deployed to the Middle East, often multiple times, and were returning with physical injuries and post-traumatic stress,” Dan said. “Those experiences changed them remarkably and eroded their personal and family lives. I began to look for ways I could make a difference.”

In researching options, Dan discovered several short-term, high-impact residential retreats that had been successfully helping veterans with the effects of post-traumatic stress (PTS) and moral injury, a complex condition that results in emotional guilt and shame. However, none of these retreat facilities were in the Midwest, where there’s a large population of veterans but a lack of mental health resources.

“Veterans make up about 9% of the Midwest’s population, while the national average is under 6%,” Dan said. “And unfortunately, per capita, the Midwest ranks in the top 10 for veteran suicides nationwide. When you look at our rural veterans, we’re in the top five. That’s not acceptable to me.”

In 2016, Dan retired from his medical practice in Nebraska, and he and Jo moved back to Missouri to begin developing the framework for Guardian Hills. They formed a not-for-profit corporation and donated 28 acres of their farm to the retreat. Construction began in 2022 on the campus, which includes a mix of refurbished buildings and new structures—all designed to be accessible by people with physical disabilities.

Respecting the past

A century-old barn, constructed from white oak beams milled on the property, was renovated to be used for dining and social activities, and a vintage chicken coop was transformed into an art studio and self-expression classroom. A new 12,000-square-foot multipurpose arena provides space for equine-assisted therapy along with a climate-controlled classroom for yoga and educational sessions. There are five indoor horse stalls, and a donation from the MFA Incorporated Charitable Foundation helped fund the installation of an outdoor corral as well.

“We wanted to keep the feeling of a midwestern farm, being respectful to the history of the property, not only for the people who came before us but also the people who are going to be utilizing it now,” Dan said.

Three cabins were built in the center of the complex to house the participants, staff and volunteers. The four-bedroom, four-bath structures are named Honesty, Kindness and Integrity after core principles emphasized throughout the retreat.

Purposely placed at the high point of the property is a flat labyrinth, designed as a single spiral pathway that leads toward a center point. Labyrinths are used as a tool for stress reduction, mindfulness and spiritual practice, and the one at Guardian Hills overlooks inspiring views of the farm’s hills and valleys.

“Our participants can come up here and use the labyrinth for their morning prayer time or meditation,” Dan said. “One of the things we emphasize is that you need a spiritual basis for a better chance of recovery. We don’t push one particular doctrine. That’s a personal decision. But understanding that you need to be part of something greater than yourself can make a huge difference in how well you do.”

Other key features of the retreat are nature trails, a 9-hole disc golf course and an outdoor fireplace where each evening ends with a discussion among participants and staff. Altogether, the program’s activities and classes are designed to help veterans process traumatic experiences from both their military careers and personal lives and develop healthy tools for thriving in the future.

“We start to peel off the layers of PTS by getting our veterans thinking about not only what they’re feeling but why they’re feeling it,” Dan said. “We break down inhibitions and barriers through the horses, art projects and talks around the fireplace. We take walks. We go fishing. We play disc golf. Each one of those things has a particular purpose in the healing process.”

Harnessing horse power

Equine therapy is among the most impactful aspects of the curriculum, Dan said. The Slawskis partner with local farms to bring horses to Guardian Hills for each retreat. These sessions are based on the “Horse Inspired Growth and Healing (HIGH)” model created by therapist Suzi Landolphi, who serves as Guardian Hills’ director of curriculum. She previously developed curriculum for a similar retreat, Boulder Crest in Bluemont, Va., which serves combat veterans, their families and first responders.

Andy Kaufmann, who attended the Boulder Crest retreat 10 years ago, now facilitates the equine-assisted therapy for Guardian Hills and leads the yoga and labyrinth modules. A medically retired Army helicopter pilot who was injured in Iraq, Andy discovered the healing power of horses firsthand and shares that passion with fellow veterans.

“When I found Boulder Crest, I was at my lowest point after years of trying to deal with PTS on my own and failing. My wife basically said get help or get out,” Andy said. “At that retreat, I was out in the field with one of the horses, and I totally broke down. It started to change everything for me. Horses can read our emotions and sense our energy. They’re very intuitive and forgiving. It’s a whole different realm of communication and connection.”

Andy will be among staff members at Guardian Hills when its first official retreats begin in early May. Each week-long session, which will run through late October, can accommodate six to eight veterans. In preparation for this full-scale launch, several pilot retreats were conducted throughout 2024 to train the instructors and facilitators, fine-tune the curriculum and build a base of veteran-mentors who had completed the program.

Among those participants was Matt Tarjick, who served as a medical service corps officer with the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division for five years, including a deployment to Afghanistan. Guardian Hills gave him a chance to “put some of the past in the past,” Matt said, and he plans to volunteer for future retreats to “pay it forward” with other veterans.

“I’m working on mindfulness and my own well-being, trying to improve for my family,” Matt said. “A lot of my PTS is service-related, but I’m also dealing with a lot of issues from before I joined the military. I’m still going through my own personal journey, and part of that journey is helping other people like me. I feel like this program really has the veteran’s best interest in mind.”

Also in Matt’s retreat class was Doug Ragland of Columbia, Mo., a Gulf War veteran who has been dealing with PTS from his combat deployment as well as the trauma of witnessing the attempted suicide of a college roommate. In recent years, Ragland went through a divorce and lengthy custody battle. He found out about the program through his job at Veterans United, one of the major sponsors of Guardian Hills.

“My first reaction was, ‘Man, I really hope the people who need this will do it.’ And then it was like God himself took me by the collar and said, ‘Take a look at this for yourself.’ So, I did,” Ragland said. “I needed something that would be a marker of the rest of my life, and that’s exactly what this has been. I’m letting go of the stuff that has been holding me down, and I’m super grateful. Now, it’s a matter of reinforcing all these things I’ve learned for myself when we get out of here.”

Continuing the journey

That follow-up support is a critical component of the Guardian Hills mission, Dan said. After each weeklong session, staff members help participants identify resources in their hometowns so they can receive additional therapy if needed and continue to engage in the activities they resonated with during the retreat.

“Usually by the second or third day, things really start to open up, especially around the fireplace,” Dan said. “Backgrounds come out and stories are shared. By the end of the week, we’ll have a very good idea of what level of ongoing support the veterans are going to need when they return to their home communities. We help get them set up in that.”

The veterans are also encouraged to make healthy nutrition part of their recovery process. Meals served during the retreat are carefully planned by a registered dietitian, and participants attend “Food as Medicine” classes, where they learn how to plan meals and snacks, to better understand role of macronutrients and micronutrients, visualize what a healthy plate of food looks like and gain tips on how to maintain a healthy diet.

“Food has a way more powerful impact than we typically think,” said Jo, who leads the nutrition sessions. “It affects your physical health, your mental health and your relational, financial and social well-being. We want to instill healthy habits that will stick around long term.”

Eleven retreat sessions are planned for 2025, beginning May 4–10 and finishing up Oct. 26–Nov. 1. Interested veterans can apply directly to the program or may be referred through the Veterans Administration system or by private doctors and therapists. The Guardian Hills staff has also been working with organizations such as the VFW, American Legion and Disabled American Veterans to spread the word about these free services.

“This is a population that’s underserved despite the sacrifices they’ve made,” said Ian Richmond, a Kirksville native who is working with the Guardian Hills staff as he pursues a master’s degree in clinical mental health at Truman State University. “They deserve to be better, and I feel compelled to help.”

Fundraising is also an important part of the operation, which relies solely on grants and donations. Russell Riggins of La Plata, Mo., joined Guardian Hills as executive director in August to help coordinate these resources as well as volunteer assistance. After coming on board, Russell participated in one of the pilot retreats, which he said helped him deal with childhood trauma while reinforcing the importance of serving his fellow veterans.

“We’ve had a tremendous amount of support so far, and it’s a true joy for me to see this program help people—and there are a lot of people out there who we can help,” said Russell, who served in the Army during the mid-1980s. “The military is a sacred brotherhood and sisterhood, and being alongside other veterans who’ve had similar experiences builds connections and trust. When they’re ready to start on this path, it’s important they know that they’re not alone.”

For more information on participating in a retreat, volunteering or donating to Guardian Hills Veterans Healing Center, visit guardianhills.com, call 573-530-9292 or email info@guardianhills.com. 

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