‘Outdoor Immersion’ group aims to connect veterans to others with same experiences

PITTSBURGH — Channel 11 News is helping to break the stigma of mental illness.

It’s long been documented the struggles many military veterans face when coming home from overseas.

A local group called “Outdoor Immersion” is working to connect veterans to others who have been through the same thing.

Jim Skal founded the group. He’s not a veteran but his father was in the Navy.

“A pastor at our church said ‘what’s your purpose?’ He said if you didn’t know what your purpose was, outside of raising my four kids with my wife, what are your passions? Passions are for a purpose,” Skal said. That was in 2009. Two years later, Outdoor Immersion was born. It started with teens in Aliquippa and grew.

Once a week, a group of veterans gets together and hikes, sunshine or rain, as part of the program.

The first five minutes of the three-mile hike is spent in silence. Skal encourages the veterans to stop and listen to nature along the way.

Once the five minutes is up, Skal stops and teaches when the moments present, relating things they see and hear on the hike to Biblical teachings.

“Being in creation, we have less stress. We come out feeling better. We’re more hopeful, more driven, more clear thinking. Then, we can start thinking about the future, Skal said.

Among the hikers, Marine Corps Veteran Brian Leek. He first met Skal back in 2016.

“He appeared just as God usually puts people in our lives,” Leek said.

He, like many veterans, was going through a hard time.

“Really had nowhere to turn or no real purpose, but it gave us a little something. Especially when you get together and realize we’re all in the same boat and life can be good,” Leek said.

The Monday group represents a small part of Outdoor Immersion. Skal says there are hundreds registered with usually about 50 active at any given time.

You can learn more about how to get involved with Outdoor Immersion here: https://outdoorimmersion.org/.

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