Art and Nature programming for the fastest-growing Veteran Demographic

Finding Her Voice: Brushwood’s Programs for Women Veterans

By Megan Donahue, with Angela Walker

Angela Walker knows Brushwood’s At Ease program like the back of her hand—Brushwood Center is not just a place for her, it’s her passion. But even leaders like Angela can be caught off guard, and that’s exactly what happened during a Nature, Art, and Wellness Day for Women Veterans.

These special events at Brushwood are a chance for women Veterans and their families to relax, recharge, and enjoy the serene beauty of Ryerson Woods. The day is packed with calming activities like yoga, forest bathing, and creative art workshops. But when Angela sat down for a writing exercise that day, she wasn’t thrilled.

“Write about my feelings? Nope,” Angela said. “We can paint, we can do yoga, we can even sing—but write about what happened in the military? Hard pass.”

She planned just to sit there quietly and let the others write. But something shifted.

“I ended up writing so much, I shocked myself!” Angela said. “It was like my voice came pouring out— I didn’t even know I had so much to say that was bottled up inside me. All it took was the right question and the right space. I started writing, and I didn’t want to stop. I’m still writing today!”

The Fastest-Growing Veteran Demographic

Women Veterans are the fastest-growing group of Veterans. Between the 2020 and 2023 fiscal years, the percentage of women Veterans increased from 6.3% to 11.3%. There are 2.1 million women Veterans in the United States.

Jes Klinge, an Army Reservist and Brushwood’s Veteran Programs Specialist, joined the military at the age of 17. With over two decades of service, she brings a depth of knowledge about military culture to her work at Brushwood. Since her arrival to Brushwood in 2020, the At Ease initiative has expanded significantly, especially offerings for women Veterans.

Jes is quick to avoid painting with a broad brush. “I think Veterans are like everybody else. Everybody really needs different ways to cope with mental health,” she says. Still, she notes, women Veterans do often have some things in common.

Feeling overlooked in the Veterans space is common, as is dealing with Military Sexual Trauma (MST). “Military Sexual Trauma is a really big problem in the women Veterans space,” Jes says. “I feel like a lot of these issues aren’t really talked about as much.”

U.S. Army Veteran and artist Ramona Pozek agrees. “I think that whenever people are coming up with programs, or if they want to do something for Veterans, they’re always thinking about the guys,” she says. She recalls people in the past assuming her male partner was the Veteran in the relationship, when she’s the one who served, and receiving care packages that were clearly intended for male service members.

“We love our country, and we are really proud of serving. We’re not looking for a whole lot. [But] if you’ve got something for the guys, then have something for us, too,” she says.

Research demonstrates that women Veterans face unique challenges throughout their service, and especially upon transitioning from the military into civilian life. The Military Times reported in 2019 that women Veterans report difficulties with feeling invisible when leaving the service, and face a lack of peer support, feeling unaccepted by civilian women, and struggling to find supportive peer groups.

The Wounded Warrior Project has found that women warriors experience MST, anxiety, and depression at higher rates than male warriors. 80% of women warriors scored as lonely based on the UCLA Three-Item Loneliness Scale. 61% of women warriors experienced symptoms of anxiety.

These unique challenges have led At Ease to develop specific programs for women Veterans. Each month, women Veterans meet online for a watercolor painting class, and an art social hour, an opportunity to work independently on art projects and build camaraderie with other women Veterans. Nature, Art, and Wellness Days are becoming a highlight for this growing Brushwood community.

Dedicated women’s programming lines up with anecdotal findings from the Wounded Warrior Project, which found that outcomes were more successful and women Veterans felt more supported when they were able to connect with advocates or organizations.

That’s certainly been Angela’s experience.

From Darkness to Creativity

Angela’s journey with Brushwood began at a tough time in her life. She had been discharged from the Navy due to medical reasons, leaving behind her dream of a long military career. Health challenges, along with depression and PTSD, made life feel heavy.

To make matters worse, Angela, a professional singer, lost her voice for a time due to her health issues.“Losing my ability to sing was devastating. Singing had always been my outlet, and I didn’t know if I’d ever get it back.”

When her voice returned, Angela eventually began volunteering, singing to patients at the VA hospital and taking part in an art therapy program. Her involvement led her to Brushwood, where she performed at a 2015 awards dinner honoring Robert and Sibylle Szaggars Redford. From that moment, she was “hooked on Brushwood.”

“What pulled me out of that dark space was my faith in God and Brushwood,” Angela said. “The people at Brushwood cared about me. They cared about Veterans. And they invited me to use my voice to help figure out how to support others like me.”