Welcome to Project Healing Waters!
PHW Martinez / Sacramento Program
Project Healing Waters, Inc. (PHW) began in 2005 serving wounded military service members returning from combat in Iraq and Afghanistan at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Since then, PHW has expanded nationwide, establishing its highly successful program in Department of Defense hospitals, Warrior Transition Units, and Veterans Affairs Medical Centers and Clinics.
For over 20 years, Project Healing Waters has helped active military service personnel and veterans in need through a dedicated, developed curriculum of fly fishing, fly casting, fly tying, and fly rod building. We are currently helping over 9,800 active veteran participants, including 1,300 women, from all service eras through the generous work of over 3,600 active volunteers.
We are a leading nonprofit in therapeutic outdoor recreation, using the sport of fly fishing as an intervention. The restorative healing powers of nature and the outdoors are well-documented. For our veteran and military participants, the camaraderie, connectedness, and community found in our programs, alongside the symbiotic relationship between veteran and volunteer directly correlate to increased sense of belonging, resilience, and post-traumatic growth.
One of 152 active programs across the United States, in Northern California PHW Martinez is affiliated with the Martinez VA Outpatient Clinic and sponsored by the Diablo Valley Fly Fishing (DVFF) club in Walnut Creek. In 2025 we significantly expanded our reach with a newly launched PHW Sacramento Affiliate program in partnership with Sacramento area VA Outpatient Clinics and local fly fishing clubs. We also partner with other PHW NorCal programs in Chico, Monterey, Reno/Tahoe, and San Francisco.
Founded in 2010, the combined PHW Martinez/Sacramento program currently has over 65 disabled veterans and active military participants of all genders, ages, races, eras of war, socioeconomic status, and disabilities. And over 45 active PHW volunteers generously give their time and fly fishing experience.
Fundamental to the PHW Martinez/Sacramento program is a series of monthly fly fishing proficiency workshops led by PHW volunteers. These include Foundational Fly Fishing, Entomology, Fly Casting, Fly Rod Building, Fly Tying, and Water Safety. There are also a series of monthly All-Hands Roundups where veterans and volunteers get together to hear about program updates, socialize, and share their healing experiences.
PHW Martinez/Sacramento also sponsors group overnight fly fishing outings year-round on a number of beautiful waters across Northern California, Oregon, and Nevada. These trips include Trinity River, Fall River, Pyramid Lake, Manzanita Lake, Golden Trout Wilderness, Baum Lake, Williamson River, Lower & Upper Sacramento Rivers, and Eastern Sierra streams. Project Healing Waters also sponsors National Outings at Oak Heart Lodge in Michigan.
In 2026 we kicked off the Project Healing Waters Women program, specifically focused on the growth, retention, and healing of 40 deserving women veterans across the six Northern California programs. We launched in partnership with women’s non-profit Rising to the Fly with 10 women spending a week together at Fall River CA for some fly fishing and habitat conservation with California Trout and UC Davis.
PHW Martinez also collaborates with Catch Magazine to capture our healing experiences in their special Veterans Day issues. These have included Healing on the Fall (2018), Three Perfect Days of Healing (2019), Casting to Heal (2020), Healing Full Circle (2022), and Diversity Healss (2024). We look forward to the 2026 issue which will tell the story of our recent Golden Trout Wilderness Experience with Trout Unlimited and the U.S. Forest Service. You can see the advance trailer here.
Fly fishing outings are the lifeblood of healing for our disabled participants. These are only made possible with the generous outpouring of financial support from our community of donors. We depend heavily on major grants, cash donations, and our annual Project Healing Waters NorCal Online Auction to fully cover these costs for our deserving veterans, active military, and volunteers.
Our goal is to provide a lifelong rehabilitative pastime for disabled veteran participants through all things fly fishing. PHW Martinez/Sacramento participants can now work through their physical and emotional limitations in an environment of patience and camaraderie while learning an engrossing new activity that helps them find peace for the rest of their lives. Lifetime friendships are formed with fellow disabled veterans and PHW volunteers in an atmosphere of safety, trust, and understanding.
“We are passionate about those we heal, and that passion is shared by those whose lives have changed forever.”
Contact Brian Miller
PHW Martinez Program Lead
brian.miller@projecthealingwaters.org
(925) 518-5252