Good Neighbor Podcast Northport
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Good Neighbor Podcast Northport
LaCell Sherman: Transforming Mental Health for Veterans and First Responders Through Motorcycle Therapy
In this impactful episode of the Good Neighbor Podcast, I sit down with LaCell Sherman, a former military service member and law enforcement officer, and the inspiring co-founder of Motorcycle Therapy. LaCell opens up about his personal battles with PTSD and depression, which fueled his passion to create a non-profit that supports veterans and first responders through the transformative power of motorcycle riding.
We’ll explore how Motorcycle Therapy offers more than just a ride—it’s a therapeutic community that helps reduce stress, improve mental health, and foster connection. LaCell shares the science behind why riding is as beneficial as aerobic exercise for mental well-being, and recounts incredible success stories from participants whose lives have been forever changed.
Hear about the organization's challenges as it grows to meet nationwide demand, and how it continues to provide hope to those who have served our country. If you’re looking for a fresh take on mental health support, this episode is for you!
#GNPNorthport #GNPBirmingham #MotorcycleTherapy #VeteranSupport #MentalHealthAwareness #FirstResponders #PTSDRecovery #CommunityHealing #AlternativeTherapy #MotorcycleRiding #BikersForMentalHealth #StressRelief #SupportOurVeterans #NonProfitLife #HealingThroughRiding #LawEnforcement #MotorcycleLife #VeteransHelpingVeterans
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Patricia Blondheim.
Speaker 2:I'm your host, patricia Blondheim, and today we have good neighbor Lassell Sherman, and Lassell is a co-founder with Motorcycle Therapy. It is headquartered in Tuscaloosa, but they serve all of Alabama. Lasalle, how are you today? I'm doing good. It is a pleasure speaking to you and just the name of your foundation intrigues me. Tell me what is Motorcycle Therapy?
Speaker 3:Motorcycle Therapy is a non-profit organization that works with veterans and first responders who suffer from PTSD and depression, using motorcycles as a form of as a tool to help with dealing with those thoughts and those different things. So, if they don't know how to ride, we actually have a basic course where we teach them how to ride, introducing the motorcycles. If they do know how to ride, we have those tough conversations about a friend or family member that may be struggling or thinking about suicidal thoughts, in an effort to lower the suicide rate in the state of Alabama, which is actually higher than the national average.
Speaker 3:Oh in the state of Alabama.
Speaker 2:Wow, it speaks to our lack of resources here. I think yes. So can you tell me a little bit about the origin of motorcycle therapy and how did the idea of using motorcycle riding to support veterans with PTSD come about?
Speaker 3:It actually came out of a personal need. 2020, covid hit everything kind of slowed down A lot of things that I thought I had dealt with from my time in the service, as well as things that I felt like I filed away or dealt with while also working as a police officer. All those things started coming back as I spent more time away from the job and at home my dreams, depression, anxiety so riding for me was my, helped me to get through those things, and meeting other veterans while riding and meeting other people who had the same experiences while riding made me start looking for organizations kind of like mine. I couldn't find one, or I couldn't find an organization that really focused on motorcycles and PTSD within our state or nearby. So, talking to another veteran, another friend, he was like well, maybe you should start it. And so, using him as one of my founders and my wife, we co-founded Motorcycle Therapy and got some partnerships with the state for the riding program the state riding program in Montevallo and here we are.
Speaker 2:And here we are, so were you. Well, actually, let's talk about what makes motorcycle riding such a therapeutic experience for veterans with PTSD. What is it about it?
Speaker 3:Well, it gives them a chance to think, think through their thoughts. It provides that adrenaline that they miss or experience in the service. It also acts, as the science behind it has shown that it improves thought, especially for people who deal with traumatic brain injuries and PTSD. They actually did a study in California Berkeley on it. It's basically an hour of writing, is like a strong cup of coffee. It lowers the stress markers within the body and it's equal to 20 minutes of aerobic exercise.
Speaker 2:Really, can I take up motorcycle riding and give up the ab crunches? You could, because I'm in. Can you share any success stories or personal testimonies from veterans who have participated in your program?
Speaker 3:Yeah, we actually take video testimony from some of our veterans and some of our first responders we have had since we've been in existence, which has been like the last two, a little over two and a half years we've helped 45 veterans and first responders. We've had to turn away about 150 because we didn't have the resources in the states that they were in, because we're also starting to get recognition from other states. People are calling us from California, virginia, georgia, colorado, texas, so, but most in the beginning because, like I said, most veterans and first responders are a little suspicious of anything that's supposed to be free, and so they get there and they're like what's the catch? What's the catch? But by the end they're like this is awesome, I'm so glad you did this. Uh, a lot of them uh email me on a regular basis. I still talk to uh, some of them on the phone.
Speaker 3:A lot of them are like man, when you said that you're available for me anytime, like I have one particular one who's a veteran as well as a police officer and he was going through a rough time.
Speaker 3:He gave me a call and he was like I didn't believe when you said that you're available to talk to me anytime and that when I called you I wasn't expecting to get you, and we talked and I went and I went up to his house and we rode some.
Speaker 3:And so it helps build that community and that's the goal is to connect them so they meet people in those classes who are just like them, because I don't put veterans with first responders unless that veteran is also a first responder and I don't put first responders in veteran classes because the things they experience are different. But if the person is both, then it doesn't matter, but when they're I put vets with vets and first responders first responders, because it's a different community and it helps them build connections and they end up in two days somebody they didn't know on Saturday morning. When they leave on on Sunday, they've exchanged numbers, they're talking to each other, they're calling each other, they're riding with each other, they're going and if they're new, they go and pick out bikes and find bikes, and some of them have purchased bikes at the same time with each other. So it's I see it all the time and it's awesome to see how it does help and build that community.
Speaker 2:It can't be all you, LaSalle. I mean, I know you're a founder and it's a young organization, but I know you are building this for bigger things. Do you collaborate with other organizations or mental health professionals to support veterans beyond the rides?
Speaker 3:Yeah, we try to connect with other people. As a matter of fact, this weekend we're partnering with the Tuscaloosa Veterans Administration for a cherry ride and Warrior Wellness Day to try to reach a smaller, a big area of veterans that aren't receiving services in a rural area down in Brent. So we're going to start off with a ride from the VA to Brent, to Heritage Park, unless there's bad weather, then they'll move to uh, brent elementary, um, and then from there it's going to have like resources for those veterans, different organizations around the state that services vets. Uh, it's going to be food trucks, it's going to be bouncy houses for family members, the kids and it's going to Just focus on getting the services to veterans in need.
Speaker 3:We partner with the University of Montevallo's Alabama Traffic Safety Center. They provide us a closed range, motorcycles and classrooms for our beginner riding classes as well as our advanced classes, so that the students can actually get an MSF certification which allows them to go and take that card just like they would if they do the paid classes from Harley or from the state. They do our class. It's the same as that class, same coaches, but it's free to them and they just take it and get their M endorsement. So it takes a full combination. Because we are a fully volunteer program, we have no paid staff. Matter of fact, all founders, all board members literally have to pay to be a part of our organization. There is no, we don't have a staff to pay. We actually pay into the organization in order to make the programming and all the services free to the veterans.
Speaker 2:How do you envision the future of the foundation? Are there any plans for expansion or new programs?
Speaker 3:Next year we're hoping to expand into Florida as we build partnerships in other states and people who want to take on the challenge. We're hoping to open up chapters in other states and build partnerships with other organizations. We're trying to build, trying to make some national connections in hopes of being able to take it other places. Because the part that frustrates me a lot is that those people that I've turned away from other states, from other areas, who want our services, who are asking for our services, that we can't help. Because for me, my heart is always with my fellow veterans and my fellow first responders, because I know the pain, I know the experience and I just want them.
Speaker 3:I don't want to leave anybody behind when it comes to those who serve. There's not a lot of resources for us. The government doesn't have a lot of programs for veterans who are coming back from. I mean, I like it like this. They train us, they send us overseas, we experience things, we come back and they put us back into the world and there's nothing there to prepare us for that new culture shock. Because typically all the time the kid that you knew or the person that you knew before I left and went away isn't the same person that came back. So, and it's the same with all veterans they're not the same person that left. The people around you are pretty much the same. Their experiences may be different, but they're pretty much the same people they were, but the people. But you have changed. You've lived lifetimes and how long you serve versus someone else's experience.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, you kind of get dropped off and there are no directional signs.
Speaker 3:No.
Speaker 2:And I've seen it happen many times with friends of mine, people that I know, and I wish there was more on the other side that whole idea of not leaving anyone behind, I feel like it ends when you leave the service and it needs to continue. So I mean, to that end, how can our listeners support motorcycle therapy or get involved in raising awareness for veterans' mental health?
Speaker 3:They can go to our website, motorcycletherapyorg, sign up as volunteers. They can lead fundraisers. We have peer-to-peer support fundraiser portals on our site. They can donate. They can just spread the word.
Speaker 3:Like I said, we have no paid staff, so everyone is hands-on and we make it happen so that every dime, every dollar, every penny, everything that we've raised, actually goes back to our veterans and our programming. None of it goes in anyone's pocket. No one gets a salary. There's no, no excessive fees other than, like our phone or Internet phone or internet, the things that we do to actually exist, but our programming. For every $500 raised, you can help anywhere from four to 12 veterans or first responders, and that's, that's awesome.
Speaker 3:So I tell people all the time we'll take a dollar, we'll take 50 cents. We just want to be able to continue to provide services for free, because nothing that we offer to our veterans and first responders is at charge. And with that we also try to give them things. Let them know that we're there, journals for journaling their thoughts. We want them to feel special and that the things that we give them and that we provide to them, they have earned just by signing that dotted line and saying I'm willing to give my life for this country and ask nothing in return. Well, I think it's time for us to pony up, give my life for this country and ask nothing in return.
Speaker 2:So Well, I think it's time for us to pony up and give something back. So do you have a website that you want to include here, or contact information?
Speaker 3:Yes, motorcycle therapyorg is our website. All of our contact information is there how to reach us, how to volunteer, how to donate about our programs, how to take part in our programs. Everything is listed on MotorcycleTherapyorg.
Speaker 2:Wonderful. Well, I will link to that in the description below. Lasalle, thank you so much for coming and sharing this really important program. I'm excited to know more about it and I know that there are a lot of listeners out there that would really like to be involved in, so I'm going to encourage them to visit you at your website and to donate to motorcycle therapy based here in Tuscaloosa, lassell. Thank you so much for coming by and sharing with me.
Speaker 1:Thank you for having me on Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast, northport. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to gnpnorthportcom. That's gnpnorthportcom, or call 205-809-4910.