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Nov 26, 2023

Working with wood helps traumatized cope

When someone is hurting and in a dark place, ex-cop Greg Freeman shows them how

When someone is hurting and in a dark place, ex-cop Greg Freeman shows them how to make a pen from wood.

He then instructs them to use the pen to sign all their important papers.

"It's very therapeutic," said Freeman, who retired with a medical disability after serving 31 years with the Minneapolis Police Department. His disability was diagnosed as post-traumatic-stress-disorder, or PTSD. And he's decided it's his mission in life to help others significantly touched by trauma by teaching them woodworking.

When word spread that Freeman had left the department due to PTSD, others who were struggling reached out. He invited anyone who needed to talk to a wood shop in his garage. "I noticed people were stressed out. I’d tell them, ‘you feel out of control, so we’re going to make a pen and you’re going to use it to sign all your important papers.’ We’d talk while working on the lathe. I could watch their stress come down."

When his garage became too small for more advanced projects, Freeman found White Bear Makerspace, a do-it-yourself shop that offers memberships to people who want to make things. The pieces on display are beautiful; some are for sale, some go to charities. Many of the wooden treasures, from coffee tables to cutting boards, are made from scrap: throwaway, cracked or warped wood. "It is a metaphor for people's lives," Freeman said.

The former officer's story isn't pretty. "The average person has one or two critical incidents in a lifetime," Freeman noted. "Law enforcement officers have over 800 in 20 years. I don't know how many shootings or homicides I’ve seen, how many dead kids or how many autopsies. I can't remember."

Freeman was a patrol officer in the Third and Fourth precincts, worked in a gang unit, and served as an assault, conspiracy and homicide investigator. He was point man in the Top 100 Unit that focused on the most violent people in Minneapolis. He was also a peer counselor from 2012 to 2020, when he decided he’d had enough. His job, his reality, was something he couldn't do anymore.

There is still a stigma regarding PTSD. For Freeman, retiring early felt like failing. "I almost made it, but I got to the point where I noticed I didn't care anymore."

He had a serious heart-to-heart with himself, Freeman said, and realized he had changed. "My wife started noticing things. People kept asking me why I was angry. I was sleeping two to three hours a night." It was tough to leave, he admitted. "You’re no longer part of something, so you sit home by yourself."

When he realized what woodworking did for his mental health, Freeman decided to reach out to the Invisible Wounds Project (IWP).

Founded by Russ Hanes, IWP is a Forest Lake nonprofit that works to improve the lives and mental health of our frontline heroes. Like Freeman, Hanes suffered PTSD from almost two decades in public safety, corrections and dispatch. He looked for help after leaving his career behind and when he couldn't find it, he started IWP.

IWP offers therapy services and resources to Minnesota's military, first responders and frontline medical staff, corrections, dispatch and their families. Its focus is providing therapeutic outlets that includes all-expenses-paid woodworking classes. Hanes figures they held about 200 woodworking therapy sessions in 2022.

"The program at Makerspace has been incredibly successful with people who are struggling, who may only leave their house to come here," Hanes said.

Heroes Helping Heroes also got wind of the woodworking classes and has sent clients their way. The organizations will ask Freeman to call those who need help. "We have a conversation, some long, some short. And they come in (to the class)," he said. "Some come in with physical issues, not just PTSD. If they want to talk about the dead babies they’ve seen, they can. They have permission to talk about anything. My rule is what we talk about in the shop stays in the shop."

Not everyone is unemployed or diagnosed with a disorder like PTSD. Some don't want a diagnosis if they’re working because employers might think they’re crazy. Some are taking classes to "inoculate themselves," Hanes said. "We try to catch them upstream before they go over the waterfall.

"We’ve had several people who have come through here say that if they hadn't, they would be dead. Suicide is the No. 1 killer of first responders," according to Hanes.

Unfortunately, Makerspace is closing April 29 and the 10,000-square-foot building at 5966 Hwy. 61 is for sale. Owners Tom and Theresa Lendway said they plan to move the woodshop to the Roseville/Midway area with the new location opening this fall. The property is listed at $1.029 million.

Freeman and Hanes are hoping someone will step up and decide their project is worthwhile enough to help fund a new space. Hanes is confident he can get grants to buy woodworking equipment, but they need a physical building to put it in, preferably in the northeast metro.

"There's still a lot of work to do," Freeman said. "I’ve had people come in here goober-snot crying. Now they’re walking around smiling, laughing and talking to other people. There's a glimmer of hope."

IWP is holding its second annual Blue Jean Ball at 7 Vines Winery in Dellwood, 6-9 p.m. May 5. Open to the public, tickets are $125 and available at www.iwproject.org. Items made in the woodshop will be for sale in silent and live auctions.

Thank you for your service. The colors on the IWP sweatshirt are important. The colors on the flag, though, seem to be limited to black, "white," and blue, which I worry might be sending some other kind of message.

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