About US

About Us

Growing Healthy Veterans (GHV) was co‑founded in 2016 by Marshall Fox, an Air Force Veteran committed to supporting the well‑being of fellow service members, and the late Lukan Paulus, a specialist certified in Sustainable Agriculture and Horticultural Therapy. Together, they recognized a powerful need: veterans returning to civilian life often lacked opportunities for connection, purpose, and healing in a supportive community environment.

Drawing on Marshall’s lived experience in the military and Lukan’s expertise in therapeutic agriculture, they with a group of like-minded dedicated individuals we’re the driving forces for a mission‑driven organization that empowers veterans, strengthens neighborhoods, and build sustainable food resources.

Marshall Fox

Lukan Paulus

History

Growing Healthy Veterans first program brought Veterans from the Federal Health Care Center to garden plots donated by the Liberty Prairie Foundation in Grayslake in the summers of 2016 and 2017.

Additional History information and images are being processed and will be posted as soon as possible.

Growing Healthy Veterans North Chicago Commons Community Garden. This 14-acre parcel is home to more than a dozen garden plots. It is here veterans and the community grow healthy food for their families and empowered to live sustainably.

Additional History information and images are being processed and will be posted as soon as possible.

In Memory of Lukan

David Jon Lukan Paulus, age 51, passed away unexpectedly and peacefully on September 9, 2021. Lukan was born on Guam on September 27, 1969 while his parents Ellen Ewing and David Paulus, who survive him, were serving in the Peace Corps on the island of Yap. Lukan was widely known for his dedicated volunteer work with homeless people in Lake County and as co-founder of Growing Healthy Veterans, a not-for-profit that established community gardens in North Chicago and Gurnee to encourage veterans and active military to engage in vegetable gardening as a healthy and therapeutic activity. Participants included Veterans at the Lovell Health Care Center and from the Lake County Veterans Court program. Lukan received his B.A. from Evergreen State College and certifications in Sustainable Agriculture from College of Lake County and in Horticultural Therapy at the Chicago Botanical Garden.