FRANKLIN COUNTY, VA - In 2018, a group of chaplains came together to dedicate time and energy to helping law enforcement officers work-through and overcome traumas they face on the job. The group, called SHIELD Chaplaincy, has been working to create a therapeutic outdoor space in Franklin County for these officers.
According to WDBJ7, in 2024, the group began leasing a 100-acre property and has created Project Haven, an outdoor therapeutic sanctuary for law enforcement officers, giving them a space to unwind in nature with their families.
SHIELD Chaplain Gareth Stephenson said, "What I've found is that getting officers and their families out of the normal, getting them outdoors, has been incredible for their healing and their total wellness. This is just a tool for us to use to unpack stuff, to let them kind of decompress and begin to talk about things. I've seen officers come out here with their kids. There was an officer that was really struggling with some stuff going on, and he and his son came out and really enjoyed the property."
SHIELD Chaplains bring officers to the property where they can hunt, fish, hike, have a bonfire, or juts relax outdoors. SHIELD has put a grave roadway on the property and is continuing to add to the sanctuary.
Stephenson said, "This property is beautiful and is appropriate for hunting, fishing, and for the outdoors. But there are a lot of people who don't hunt and don't fish, and we want to make this property available for them as well. So, we put in a roadway, Rockydale Quarry was able to donate 170 tons of gravel, and we were able to put a roadway in so we can get vehicles in and out. We've cleared out a shelf above the pond, that way we can do movie nights and big gatherings."
The organization said Project Haven is opening more doors for it to work with officers. SHIELD Chaplain Adam Hughes said, "What we're hoping this is going to do is be another tool in our toolbox to be able to help them process all that stuff they go through, and again help them to enjoy the career they started, finishing out the career they started, and be the people they need to be when they're home."
Hughes said the key for chaplains is to have one-on-one time with officers to help them work through their traumas, adding that Project Haven is the perfect place for this. He said, "When we get out here in a non-chaos environment, we really just get to relax and get to hang out with them. That helps build those relationships and build that trust."
SHIELD began its outdoor ministry program in 2024 when Stephenson and Founding Chaplain Darren Potter took a group of officers on a hunting trip. That led to the idea to create Project Haven.
Potter said, "To see these guys unplugged, to be able to sit in a tree stand and do a little bit of hunting, whether or not they were able to harvest anything, just being able to unwind and have those should-to-shoulder conversations outside was life-giving." Potter said he was a volunteer chaplain for the Roanoke Police Department for years before starting SHIELD.
He said the organization was created to have chaplains available to officers 24/7. He added, "What I have found with law enforcement chaplaincy is that departments, if they have chaplains at all, are relying on volunteers when they happen to have time and happen to be available. The problem is traumatic events will fire off at any given time. SHIELD allowed me to be available 24/7 to the officers so when things occurred, I could be present and be there to help."
SHIELD said the average person experiences two traumatic events in a lifetime, but police officers experience, on average, 800 traumatic events in a 20-year career, which is why its work is so important. Potter said, "Some officers will say that SHIELD has saved their lives because we are walking with them. Helping them unpack some of that trauma they've been exposed to and the after-effects of that."
SHIELD is in the process of finishing work on a multipurpose area on the property. Once that's complete, it said the next goal for Project Haven will be to build some cabins on the property for officers over the next few years.
