Project seeks to connect veterans suffering from PTSD with MMA gyms
“We want to get as many people as we can in this area … But we also want people calling in nationwide, we just want to be a referral network to help everywhere.”
Veterans who want to be trained or businesses that want to get involved with Project Takedown can e-mail Garrett Roche at ProjectTakedown717@gmail.com.
Garrett Roche, a mixed martial arts from Gettysburg, PA, found a lost cell phone at a Walmart about a year ago. The phone’s owner was a member of the Village to Village Foundation and gave Roche a “Pay It Forward” token.
The Village to Village Foundation is a volunteer-based, non-profit corporation, dedicated to providing resources for veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, and remembering soldiers who fell in battle. Members carry a token with the image of a veteran on the back.
Roche carried the token, but was uncertain what to do with it. Then about a month ago he determined to merge his love on MMA with his desire to help suffering veterans, and formed Project Takedown.
Roche works with the Village to Village Foundation to refer veterans to MMA trainers near them who volunteer free mixed martial arts classes as a way to relieve emotional stress, build self esteem, and otherwise impart positivity.
Chris Cappella has a story about Jennifer Madden, who takes classes at Team Yohe MMA gym in East Berlin, PA.
“You have to be okay with getting hit and more than that, you have to be okay hitting someone else,” said Yohe, sporting a black eye.
Yohe was talking to Jennifer Madden, an army veteran who traveled 90 minutes to learn the basic techniques of mixed martial arts.
Madden was deployed to Afghanistan in 2003 as a paralegal and combat lifesaver in charge of security, she said. She worked on investigations as needed.
When Madden returned home at the end of that year, she was a shell of herself, she said.
She struggled with depression and drug abuse, which led to her being homeless for three years and breaking off relationships with her boyfriend, friends and family, she said.
“Physically, mentally, emotionally; everything was different when I came back,” she said. “I was isolated, I was hypervigilant, I was constantly looking over my shoulder waiting for the next fight, and that’s how I lived my life. It was complete fear every day.”
Around 2006, Madden was officially diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.
“I found out I had PTSD, that was a mindblower. It was a complete game changer,” she said. “Once I found that out and figured out why I had become who I had become, I started to get my life back.”
“The workout was great,” Madden said of her training at the East Berlin gym. “I have some health stuff, so at the very beginning I started not feeling really well so they took it down to my level to where I needed to be.”
Madden hopes to continue her lessons about every other week, she said.
It’s hard to have a set schedule because everything is volunteer based, Roche said.
Even Yohe, who owns the gym, is volunteering his time instead of training for an upcoming fight or giving lessons, he said.
Roche hopes that gym owners like Yohe will continue to rent out space in their gym’s for free. Meanwhile, he also is reaching out to local businesses to donate the necessary gear.
Madden was the first to participate in Project Takedown, Roche said, but he hopes that the word will spread.
“We want to get as many people as we can, especially in this area. We know there have to be vets around here who need help,” he said. “But we also want people calling in nationwide, we just want to be a referral network to help everywhere.”
More about post-traumatic stress disorder
• Of the 2.7 million veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, at least 20 percent suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, according to a study done by the RAND Organization, a nonprofit group that does research and analysis for the United States Armed Forces.
• About 50 percent of veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder don’t seek help for it, according to the study.
• Symptoms of the disorder include intrusive memories, avoidance, negative changes in thinking and mood, and changes in emotional reactions, according to the Mayo Clinic.
• Symptoms usually get worse with time, according to the Clinic.
Get involved.
Veterans who want to be trained or businesses that want to get involved with Project Takedown can e-mail Garrett Roche at ProjectTakedown717@gmail.com.