PERKINSTON, Miss. (AP) — In the comforting embrace of a lively spider monkey named Louie, an Army veteran who has battled post-traumatic stress disorder for decades finds a sense of tranquility.

“Spending time here has restored a lot of my faith,” said John Richard. “There’s nothing quite like this feeling.”

Their connection began last fall when Richard assisted two fellow married veterans in establishing the Gulf Coast Primate Sanctuary, volunteering to construct the enclosure that has since become Louie’s home in the rural southeastern area of Mississippi.

During a recent visit, Louie quickly climbed up Richard, wrapping his arms and tail around him in a warm hug. Richard gently placed his hand on Louie’s back and whispered softly until Louie unwrapped himself and swung away.

“He makes these little sounds in my ear, as if saying, ‘I love you,’” Richard explained. “‘I know you’re safe. I trust you.’”

Richard noted that his relationship with Louie has been more beneficial than any PTSD treatment he has received since his diagnosis over 20 years ago.

The sanctuary’s founder, April Stewart, shares a similar story. An Air Force veteran, she developed PTSD due to military sexual trauma.

“It was destroying my life, like a cancer,” she said. “It was a trauma that never truly healed.”

Stewart’s passion for animals became a coping mechanism. Although she didn’t initially plan to create a healing haven for veterans with PTSD, the sanctuary has become just that for some volunteers.

“By helping the primates learn to trust, we’re also teaching ourselves to trust again, and we’re extending grace to others,” she said.

Her 15-acre property, nestled among woods and farmland, houses rescue dogs, two rather loud geese, and a black cat. It’s also now home to three spider monkeys, two squirrel monkeys, and two kinkajous, a tropical mammal related to raccoons.

Located in Perkinston, about 30 miles (50 kilometers) north of the Gulf Coast, the sanctuary features three large enclosures for various species. Each enclosure includes a smaller air-conditioned area and a spacious fenced outdoor area where the primates can swing from platforms and bask in the sun. Stewart’s daily routine involves checking on the animals, changing their blankets, and providing food and water.

However, she relies on a team of volunteers for assistance, including several other veterans, and aims to open the sanctuary to the public next summer for guided educational tours.

Stewart and her husband, also a veteran, decided to open the sanctuary in October after rescuing and rehoming monkeys. With support from two exotic-animal veterinarians, they established a foundation that oversees the sanctuary—reportedly the only primate sanctuary in Mississippi licensed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture—ensuring the animals’ care continues even when they can no longer manage it themselves.

All the animals were once pets, but their previous owners eventually couldn’t care for them. Stewart emphasized that primates are not suitable or easy pets, as they require ample space and socialization that families often struggle to provide.

The sanctuary’s mission is to offer the animals a habitat as natural as possible and to reunite them with their own kind.

“This is their family,” she said.