Idaho Healing Hearts for Veterans

for the Herald

If you live in Boundary County and have not yet heard of Idaho's Healing Hearts (IHH), a

chapter of Alaska's Healing Hearts you soon will. Alaska's Healing Hearts (AHH) was founded in

2010 by a group of veterans wanting to serve the battle wounded/battle weary. AHH offers

outdoor recreational rehabilitation opportunities such as hunting, fishing, skiing and dog

sledding. They also provide vocational education to U.S. veterans and their families. AHH and

IHH are both true nonprofits. No board member or staff member ever receives any

compensation for their services and administrative fees are limited to insurance and accounting.

Jeff Lisius sits on the board of directors for AHH and in July of 2015 he and his wife Kim moved

to Porthill, Idaho from Wasilla, Alaska. Both Jeff and Kim were very active serving our counties

veterans in Alaska and could not dream of living anywhere that they could not continue helping

our countries heros. As soon as they arrived to Boundary County they realized the area was full

of possible outdoor recreational opportunities. They went right to work planning the first IHH

event.

April 15, 2016 served as the official launch date for the first IHH event. The Annual Warrior

Spring Turkey hunt. The event saw combat veterans from Idaho and Montana arrive in Bonners

Ferry Idaho on April 14th. The warriors met at Far North Outfitters who helped sponsor the

event. Licenses and ammunition was purchased and then everyone loaded up and headed out

to Donna Standley's property. Mrs. Standley donated the use of her cabin and land. The

Standley cabin would serve as base camp for the next four days.

The warriors spent the next four days hunting both state and private land. Meals and beverages

were provided. Kootenai River Brewery provided beer as a way of thanking the warriors for their

service. All the warrior's wants and needs were provided at no cost to them by IHH. Jeff Lisius

said “The only thing we want these warriors worrying about is having a good time.” He

continued “Support from the local community has been great. All costs for this event was

covered by money that was raised right here in Boundary County.”

The hunt was a complete success. Hunters were able to fill five out of six tags and everyone got

to take a turkey home.

While future events are still in the planing stage Jeff and Kim will not sit still long. When asked

what is next, Kim stated “Possibly a backcountry horseback trip, a whitetail or elk hunt, maybe

all of the above.”

If you are interested in finding out more about IHH/AHH, please check out their website at

alaska'shealinghearts.com or send an email to jefflisius66@gmail.com