Last year, while I was looking for a garage in the West Valley where my husband could work on his car project, I came across Guardian Garage in Peoria. In all honesty I couldn’t believe what I had found. Daniel (my husband) is a 100% combat-disabled veteran who spent 8 years in the Marine Corps. He had recently taken a break from work and the lack of routine was really affecting his mental health and outlook on life. After getting in touch with Craig, we went to meet the team one evening and it’s been a life changing experience from that point. They gave Daniel instruction and support in everything from cars to welding and then some, but the real take-away is knowing he has somewhere to go with like-minded people to do something constructive. The VA should really take note of what Craig, Jerry, and Bob (and the others!) are up to out here because this type of therapy is really needed in the first-responder and veteran community.
I wanted to share my experience with this amazing organization, Guardian Garage.
First and foremost, this organization has given me a purpose and motivation to get up and look forward to doing something more than just sitting on my couch and rotting away. They have helped teach me how to weld, work more in-depth with my car and other vehicles. I have made different figurines that I would have never dreamed of making in my wildest dreams. I have met and became friends/ family with many different individuals who I work with all the time at the garage. The friendships that I have made there has made me a confident person again and a much happier person. They are also assisting me in rebuilding my classic car which was just a paperweight until Guardian Garage showed up in my life. I suffer from anxiety, depression, and PTSD due to my service in the military and law enforcement and it helps in ways I cannot describe to work with and talk to people with similar experiences and backgrounds that alone makes this organization invaluable.
As a wife; watching my husband experience with guardian’s garage has been an amazing experience. I have noticed an amazing uplift in our lives since starting this program. They have helped him with learning about more depth of how to fix cars and welding. Most importantly they helped giving him motivation to go somewhere where he feels safe and comfortable with the people at the garage. They have helped him want to get out of the house and go do something other than sleep. After going to the garage, he would come home and try to do things around the house before.
He would just sleep all day. This program has been a life changing and would recommend this program to anyone that served the military or first responders. I have not seen him this excited about any other program until he started this program. It not only changes my husband life, but it changes ours. What is also great is not only they welcome the veteran of military or first responders but their families as well.
