Dave and Sadie Crist enjoy a fishing excursion on Lake Mille Lacs with Hometown Hero Outdoors. Photos: Hometown Hero Outdoors
The local nonprofit is helping first responders, law enforcement, veterans and more through adventures in nature.
Stillwater resident Chris Tetrault spent decades serving his country in the National Guard and as a law enforcement officer. Now, he’s continuing his service as the president of Hometown Hero Outdoors (HHO), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that supports firefighters, first responders, law enforcement, military service members and veterans through outdoor experiences in Minnesota and beyond.
Tetrault joined the Minnesota Army National Guard as a junior at Forest Lake Area High School in 2001; he was deployed to Bosnia in 2003 and Iraq in 2005. “Life happens. Everyone goes their own directions,” Tetrault says of life after service. “… Nothing easy about coming home after a war.” As he pursued a career as a Federal Reserve law enforcement officer and, later, a Minnesota conservation officer, the outdoors became a lifeline through which Tetrault found camaraderie and a renewed sense of purpose.
In 2017, Tetrault and a group of fellow law enforcement officers founded HHO to address the often invisible challenges faced by people whose careers put them in consistently traumatic situations. HHO is dedicated to easing the transition of life after service and breaking the cycle of isolation. “The outdoors is really the conduit or the vehicle for us to help people with healing and connection,” Tetrault says.
Hometown Hero Outdoors has expanded to 28 chapters nationwide.
The adventures are an access point for individuals across the country to have new experiences with no cost barrier. All trips are fully funded; participants need only cover their travel expenses and licenses. Past area experiences have included waterfowl and turkey hunts, and sturgeon fishing on the St. Croix River.
Stillwater police officer and former U.S. Navy submariner Dave Crist reconnected with his 10-year-old daughter, Sadie, on an HHO fishing trip to Lake Mille Lacs in 2024. The two spent a day crafting a fishing rod and fishing with a guide. “It was crazy the amount of connection we made in just 24 hours,” Crist says.
Mike Hendricks, a former Hennepin County deputy and crime scene investigator, says the adventures have been invaluable to his mental health healing. “I’ve been through hell, and I’m starting to see the light on the other side,” Hendricks says. “Unfortunately, some people don’t make it that far.”
Conversations come naturally, whether it’s in a fishing boat, trekking through the woods or sitting in a duck blind. “We want people to come together and … organically just talk about where you’ve been and what you’ve done,” Tetrault says. “And it comes out in time.”
HHO has grown beyond the Metro area to 28 chapters in as many states. More than 10,000 heroes have been impacted on more than 1,200 adventures since 2017. Each chapter is led by a director and supported by trip coordinators and area volunteers, many of whom are Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training-certified. Programming has expanded from hunting and fishing to camping, hiking and barbecues.
“It’s a long road, and it’s an uphill battle … but you’re not alone, so let us help you,” says Hendricks, who is now on HHO’s Surviving Our Service team. “If nothing else, let us just walk beside you during that journey.”
Hometown Hero Outdoors
Facebook: Hometown Hero Outdoors
