Veterans committee hears Peterson Outdoors Ministries describe free outdoor-therapy programs and claimed suicide-prevention impact

At a session of the Committee on Veterans and Armed Forces, Tron Peterson, director of Peterson Outdoors Ministries, described two decades of faith-based outdoor-therapy events he said serve more than 500 veterans a year and include family programming and chaplain participation.

Peterson said the nonprofit’s Lodge of Hope near Sheldon, Missouri, is a 7,000-square-foot, disability-accessible facility on roughly 214 acres with a 35-acre private lake, and that all services are provided at no cost to veterans. "Any veteran that served our country that comes to one of our events will not pay a dime to experience that," Peterson said.

He told the committee the program works with an adaptive-equipment provider, Be Adaptive, to enable veterans with severe injuries — including quadriplegia and blindness — to participate in hunting and fishing events. Peterson recounted that three blind veterans each harvested a deer during a season using adaptive gear.

The testimony emphasized suicide prevention as a central purpose. "We believe 5 suicides that were prevented at that event, making 19 total suicides stopped at the last 4 events," Peterson said. He presented that figure as an outcome of the organization’s recent events; the committee did not independently verify the claim during the session.

When asked how the ministry pays for operations, Peterson said the group relies mainly on churches, local businesses and individual donors, supplemented by event sponsors and in-kind support. He described partnerships with volunteers and public figures who donate access to private ranches and noted more than 100 volunteers help run events. Peterson offered an example of cost stewardship, saying recent meals for a 40-person event averaged about $3 per meal.

Peterson described recent capacity additions on the property — five RV pads and a roughly 4,000-square-foot bunkhouse that sleeps about 20 veterans — and said the organization is planning retreats for international special-forces personnel and a June panel for roughly 30–40 military chaplains. He also said chaplains had proposed marriage-enrichment retreats to address what he described as elevated divorce rates among some military subgroups.

Reverend Brownlee, who the chair introduced during the public-comment portion, praised the Lodge of Hope from personal visits: "this is one of the best places you could ever go if you just wanna look for relaxation," Brownlee said, calling it a "healing place." Committee members thanked Peterson and the chair closed the meeting with no motions or votes taken.

The committee did not request or record follow-up staff actions during the session.