(COLORADO SPRINGS) — A gentle breeze dances through the waterside vegetation where Mike Judy whips his flyfishing rod back and forth. "A good friend of mine referred me... he said it was kind of got him focused and turned around." Judy is referring to the Colorado Springs Chapter of Project Healing Waters. Judy is an army veteran. He served 22 years until his retirement in 2001. His journey before Project Healing Waters, a non-profit that connects veteran and military members to fly fishing, was grim. "The road I was on was not working. And doing it by myself was not accomplishing anything," Judy said. "Isolation as my intended cure... And that doesn't work. You can't isolate yourself and get yourself turned around you got to communicate." Alan Boatz is the Program Lead, he says that mentors and mentees are paired up on a one-on-one basis so they can work on their choice of flyfishing skills. "Chronic isolation is something... We have to defeat that," Boatz said. "Typically, we have a few- if not five or more -take suicide off the table we get them out and get them thinking about other things." Boatz says currently in the Colorado Springs chapter, the non-profit serves over 550 veterans and active duty service members with 250 volunteers. For Mike Judy, who has been with Project Healing Waters for just a few months, the difference has been noticed by loved ones. "Ask my wife," he said. "She would say it was the greatest marriage counselor we ever had." A rod and a real is probably the best therapist you can put in your hand because it focuses you, it puts your mind on what you're doing and you don't necessarily have to answer a bunch of uncomfortable questions when you don't particularly want to."