Frets4Vets uses guitar lessons to help vets with PTSD but need financial support

GEORGETOWN, Del. – A non-profit in the first state is doing something a little different to help area veterans. Using the power of music, an organization is helping men and women who have served, fight back against PTSD.

Frets4Vets is a program that started in 2017 takes veterans with PTSD or depression and teaches them a coping mechanism that focuses their brain away from the triggers and detriments from the disorder.

Frank Bolen, a Vietnam Veteran from the US Marine Corp, is able to use his hands and the power of music to cope during a 16-week guitar course. “I think it’s a stress reliever plus you have to concentrate a little bit. You gotta know where you put your fingers and everything else and that takes your thoughts away from the bad stuff that you’ve been thinking. I can take my guitar go out on my back deck and strum a few chords and watch the birds and anxiety just melts away from me, I don’t have to take all these pills anymore, I haven’t taken anxiety pills since starting this class,” Bolen says.

Bolen is one of many success stories but in order for there to be more, Frets4Vets needs your help: monetary support to assist the 436 men and women on the waiting list. They are fundraising $16,000 for the winter semester to help 20 veterans through the program. We’re told the 16-week course is $750, which covers all overhead costs such as insurance, learning materials, and a completed guitar once they graduate.

With every single dollar, vets can learn to play music for free. But beyond that, Frets4Vets also customizes a guitar for each and every single one of them, so they can continue beating this disorder. For Bolen that’s music to his ears.

Frets4Vets currently serves veterans in Kent and Sussex County. They plan to expand to Worcester and Wicomico County by the end of 2019.

If you’d like to donate, click here.