Mission Moment: Serving Those Who Have Served

Tough and stoic — that’s the traditional image of the men and women of the U.S. military. It’s also what makes veterans, like Tim Doherty, Tamara Kosoris, and Chase Sanger, hesitate to ask for the help they need. 

All three eventually found their way to Shepherd Center’s SHARE Military Initiative, a comprehensive rehabilitation program for veterans, service members, and first responders who have experienced traumatic brain injury (TBI) and mental health concerns. 

Shepherd Center launched SHARE in 2007 with funding from the Marcus Foundation. It doubled in capacity and moved to 80 Peachtree Park Drive in 2017 and, in 2019, became a founding member of the Avalon Action Alliance, a network of programs that provides care to veterans and first responders. 

Tim Doherty, who was deployed with the Michigan Army National Guard, was in charge of medical evacuation at a base in Afghanistan in 2015 when it came under attack, killing several soldiers. “With the trauma of the attack and not being able to save everyone, I came home loaded with a lot of anger,” he says. “I didn’t know that wasn’t normal.” 

A friend who had been through SHARE recommended that Tim go to Shepherd, where he was diagnosed with a mild TBI and PTSD. He became SHARE’s first virtual patient during the COVID-19 pandemic. As the pandemic waned, some appointments were in person. 

“SHARE helped me realize that I didn’t need to be angry or under the influence of alcohol all the time,” Tim says. “I learned different coping mechanisms.” Early in his in-person treatment, a Shepherd recreational therapist asked him what he would like to do. “I always wanted to play bocce ball,” he told her. They played, he says, “and that was the first time I had smiled naturally in a long time.” 

A retired high school assistant principal, Tim has a second vocation as a beekeeper. He says interaction with the bees is therapeutic, not just because of the focus required to handle them, but because their buzzing actually helps reset the brain. In fact, bee therapy is widely used in some other countries, including Lithuania and Slovenia. “It’s really a beautiful thing,” Tim says.

Through a nonprofit organization he founded called Doc’s Healing Hives, Tim, who lives in Morganton, Georgia, has equipped and trained more than 150 veterans for beekeeping. “SHARE was my beacon of hope, my beacon of joy,” Tim says. “And now that they have helped me see the light, I’m able to be a beacon to other people.” 

Tamara Kosoris wasn’t thinking of becoming a patient at Shepherd Center when she invited Sgt. Alexandra “Alex” Carvalho, SHARE outreach coordinator and Marine reservist, to speak to her veterans’ group, Irreverent Warriors. As the two talked, though, Alex realized that Tamara herself could benefit from SHARE.

Tamara, who joined the Marine Corps in 1998 at age 18, sustained a concussion during a sexual assault while in the service. Although she left the Marines in 2004, she didn’t connect with SHARE until 20 years later, when she met Alex. Tamara had sought help for her problems from other sources, but nothing seemed to work — until she spent eight weeks in the SHARE program. She says Shepherd was different for three reasons: First, treatment encompasses the whole person and is tailored to the individual. Second, transition counselors help patients return to their lives after treatment. And third, SHARE clients share the experience with people who understand what service in the military or as a first responder is like. 

Tamara, who lives in Marietta, Georgia, and works for her family brewery, is a leader in Irreverent Warriors, an organization that sponsors events and promotes humor to foster friendships among veterans with the hope of preventing suicides. 

“One of the things that drew me to Irreverent Warriors was the camaraderie,” Tamara says. “So being able to be at SHARE with other veterans—and not just other veterans, but other veterans who were going through the same things that I am — is really nice. I would highly recommend it. In fact, I have — to many people! We don’t have to have deep conversations, because we all kind of understand what each other is dealing with.” 

Chase Sanger calls SHARE “life changing.” He was first referred to the program in 2016, three years after being injured in a parachute jump while he was in the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division. His mother investigated the possibility of treatment at Shepherd and he was evaluated, but chose not to enter at the time. “I didn’t think I deserved to be there,” he says. He tried to get on with his life as if nothing was wrong but, by late 2019, “I had come to a point where I couldn’t really do that anymore,” he says. A tremor in his left foot had gradually expanded into stiffness, balance issues, foot drop, and additional tremors on both sides of his body. 

The Army and civilian neurologists he saw simply added new prescriptions whenever a new issue arose, he says. Frustrated, he thought of Shepherd Center, and was once again accepted. This time he was ready. He was diagnosed with primary progressive multiple sclerosis, which is more likely to develop in people who have had brain injuries. He entered SHARE in January 2020. Infusions seemed to halt the physical progression of his multiple sclerosis. And, he says, SHARE helped him deal with the emotional and mental aspects, such as anxiety and depression.

Chase, who lives in Ellijay, Georgia, and works for U.S. Representative Barry Loudermilk, “can’t say enough great things” about Shepherd and SHARE, he says. “They have made a huge improvement in my quality of life.”

Written by Gayle White

This story is an excerpt from “Mission Moments: 50 Years of Rebuilding Lives One Moment at a Time,” a book celebrating Shepherd’s 50th anniversary in 2025. You can explore the full eBook or purchase a hardcover copy here.