Y-12 Blog
Through a contribution from the Y-12 Community Investment Fund, Shangri-La Therapeutic Academy of Riding’s (STAR) Heroes & Horses program provided 375 hours of programming and rehabilitation for veterans in 2019.
With every stall door opened, the veterans at Shangri-La Therapeutic Academy of Riding’s (STAR) Heroes & Horses program, begin a life-altering journey to a human-to-horse connection.
Based on the Y-12 Community Investment Fund’s contribution of $5,000, the entire program is provided at no cost to every participating veteran. In 2019, STAR provided 375 hours of programming and rehabilitation for the veterans.
“It’s truly a hidden gem in Knoxville,” said Cathy Dolson, STAR Heroes & Horses instructor. “The veterans and their families have told us that they are different people when they come home from a lesson.”
More than a riding lesson
Heroes & Horses operates in semesters and offers one-hour lessons each week to veterans with disabilities or other special challenges, including traumatic brain injury, amputation, sensory loss, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Each lesson includes tasks and objectives that focus on improving coordination, developing core strength, increasing self-esteem, and providing stress relief on and off the horse. Volunteers in this program are fellow service members who participate in an extensive therapeutic riding and equine assisted training to accommodate the riders.
“Our veterans say that coming here is the best part of their week,” said Melissa Abbey, STAR director of services.
For 10 years, the program has provided vital skills and rehabilitation to veterans in East Tennessee. As members of the Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship International (PATH), “STAR is considered the gold standard in our area,” Dolson said. As a PATH member, STAR follows therapy safety program initiatives and training guidelines for instructors, ensuring safe and optimal outcomes for its veterans and horses.
Changing lives with each stride
Winston Churchill once said, "There is something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a man.” STAR embodies this adage by focusing on the therapeutic impact horses have on the veterans. Whether they are learning how to properly groom a horse or dismount after a lesson, every action is one step closer to restoring their trust, confidence, and purpose.
During a lesson on riding bareback, veterans learn how physical and mental stress can affect the outcome of their ride and the horse. The bonds the veterans share with their four-legged counterparts and the support of staff and volunteers have saved and enriched lives by actively replacing tension with tenderness.
An atmosphere for healing
While the sound of whinnies echo in the barn, the smell and feeling of the fresh mountain air from the East Tennessee foothills creates a peaceful atmosphere at STAR. “No matter what life has thrown at them,” Dolson said, “the veterans are going back to an activity and time in their life here when everything was fantastic, while learning how to redevelop relationships and camaraderie.”
For the veterans from Vietnam through Desert Storm, STAR is not only a center for hands-on experiences with horses. The academy is a place of relaxation and sanctuary that helps them cope with their post-service lives. “Several of our veterans have admitted that this is a place where they finally don’t have to look over their shoulders,” Abbey said.
By working with the East Tennessee Foundation, the Y-12 Community Investment Fund has provided opportunities for employees to award grants benefiting nonprofit organizations like STAR in its 20-county service area.
His smile is one you miss when you visit the sandwich area at what is now known as the Larry Garner Cafeteria. Garner, owner of Oliver’s, the food vendor that manages the Y-12 cafeteria and canteen, passed away last August. Bobby “Homey” Mullins, facility manager for the Y-12 Jack Case and New Hope centers, suggested naming the cafeteria after Garner. In Mullins’ own words, here is why.
“Larry was a team player when it came to Y-12. Whenever called upon to provide food service for employees or the CEO, whatever he was asked to do, he delivered. From Christmas parties for kids to short-notice events for VIPs, whether it was a guest box lunch or fine dining on china, Larry and his crew would have food ready for Y-12 employees and guests.
“Larry fed all the Y-12 veterans every Veterans Day at no cost to them. All of it came out of his pocket. If a U.S. service member in uniform was visiting Y-12, Larry fed them for free. At Thanksgiving, he would provide a good meal for about the cost of the food.
“He was always looking for better, faster ways to get employees through the cafeteria line and checked out because he knew that the employees only had so much time for lunch. He wanted them to be able to sit, eat, and enjoy their food. If something wasn’t right or wasn’t what was asked for, he would make it right.
“Larry was a leader who led from the front. He would run the grill, make sandwiches, run the deep fryer, whatever it took to make things run smoothly. He would jump in and make it happen. He always considered himself and his company part of the Y-12 team. He was a professional with a smile on his face and a can do attitude who loved what he did. He had a way of making people smile. He was our friend, and we will miss him.”
In 2015, Y-12 firefighter Ryan Ladd’s daughter, Kennedy, was diagnosed with Hurler syndrome (MPS 1), a rare genetic lysosomal storage disease. Life for Ladd, Kennedy, and Allie (his wife) has been busy since as they have shared with others the need for research on MPS and welcomed Lincoln, their now 2 year old who also has MPS 1.
Children with Hurler syndrome are characterized by skeletal abnormalities, cognitive impairment, heart disease, respiratory problems, enlarged liver and spleen, characteristic faces, and reduced life expectancy. Patients live life in and out of the hospital and will endure many surgeries. Without treatment, kids with Hurler syndrome have a life expectancy of 5 10 years of age. There is no cure.
Ladd wanted to surprise Allie with a fun trip — somewhere besides Cincinnati and its children’s hospital. He chose New York City, and while they intended to educate others about MPS 1, what neither of them expected was the platform they got to share their story on: NBC’s live TODAY show.
At the time, the couple had no idea their story would be shared multiple times. “We didn’t even comprehend we would get to say ‘MPS 1’ on national TV! Allie’s makeover went viral, and we are grateful,” Ladd said. “We were interviewed by our local NBC station (WBIR), and we gained followers, prayer warriors, and donors on our journey to hopefully find a cure. We need a cure, and with awareness, comes a cure!”
The Ladds ask for your help to educate others about MPS 1. “Tell someone about MPS,” said Ladd. Learn more about the disease from the National MPS Society.
“Something easy everyone can do is to wear purple on Rare Disease Day, February 29, and on MPS Awareness Day, May 15,” he said. “We are so grateful for the love and care that has been shown to our family through this journey. We have been so blessed by donations, vacation donation, messages, and support. We are forever grateful and so appreciative of the love that has been shown by all of our Y-12 family.”
With 811 acres spanning 2.5 miles more than 6,000 personnel. You might wonder who tracks all those people and corresponding vehicle traffic on site. Well, it’s actually a council of representatives from various departments who are tasked with bringing integration and decision making to site wide activities and projects that impact the development and utilization of site infrastructure, facilities, and/or plant personnel. And the chair of that council is Jane Nations, Y-12 site master planner.
Nations has worked at Y-12 for more than 25 years. She has a degree in electrical engineering but loves what she does planning for Y-12’s future, and working with drawings and plans. She started out in the Condition Assessment Survey Group, then moved on to become manager of the CAS and Facility Information Management Systems, space management, and served as the Y-12 Energy manager. She eventually made her way to her current role, where she also serves as chair of the Site Planning Council.
SPC was first organized in 2007, but the heavy influx of personnel in the last 18 months has kept the council busy. Recent projects such as the Uranium Processing Facility, Mercury Treatment Facility, and Biology Building demolition has brought in so many new employees that buildings and parking spaces became congested quickly.
“The Site Planning Council is a forum to address and track site wide issues and concerns, including impacts to the protected area resulting from UPF and the West End Protected Area Reduction projects,” Nations said.
In terms of office space, Jack Case Center is at currently at 108% capacity. New Hope Center, Building 9110, the guard headquarters, and HEUMF are all at or above capacity. Parking is also limited around the site.
“We are working hard to improve the congestion felt on site, in the buildings, and in the parking lots. We are developing some guidelines to help manage office space and are working to identify additional parking spaces, but we have limitations when it comes to security and mission needs,” Nations said.
All employees have a role in meeting the Pantex and Y-12 mission, but it’s easier to see that role when you hear about how it all comes together. Take the FY19 record-setting year for Y-12 in purified metal production. For the year, 512 kg of metal was produced, exceeding the goal of 500 kg — the highest of in specification material produced since 1992.
There were many teams working to meet the goal and then striving to surpass it. It comes as no surprise that working in 70 year old buildings is tough.
Glen Culver of Enriched Uranium Production said, “When you’re processing material in an old facility and have to apply the appropriate and different rules for each discipline, it can get tricky. One item can have nuclear criticality safety rules, another have nuclear materials control and accountability rules, and another item have waste management rules. It doesn’t matter what type of rules; they all have to be met.”
Culver’s teams (the reduction team just one of them) receive and process highly enriched uranium salvage to an accountable state. “The teams prepare the material for one of three paths: process in wet chemistry and make uranium metal, prepare it for long-term storage, or discard it as low-level waste,” he said.
When their coworkers on the UO3 and UF4 teams experienced challenges, it filtered down to Culver’s crews, causing them to be delayed in making uranium metal.
“Once the UO3 and UF4 teams resolved their challenges and had produced enough feed (UF4),” Culver said, “our group had a short timeframe to meet the FY19 deliverable of 500 kg of metal.”
But meeting the goal is what they did. “If we didn’t have a team that believed what they did was important and went out and made things happen,’ we wouldn’t have met the goal. Teamwork is what EUO is all about,” he said. “The work is essential to our nation, and we take that to heart and always aim for success.”
Because Culver’s teams are also responsible for disposition of enriched uranium materials, there are many additional forms of material that the teams process during the year. They have to balance what works across the year, and in FY19, they delivered again, meeting or exceeding all milestones for the Material Recycle and Recovery Program.
Eric Sampsel, Material Recycle and Recovery Program manager said, “Without processing these materials in a timely manner, 9212’s operations would rapidly run out of space for delivering on its multiple missions.”
As work gets underway for this calendar year, the team is prepared to support CNS and the nation while getting EUO ready for the Uranium Processing Facility.”
