Always on Duty
Around the world, around the clock, American Heroes are at work.
Vets' Retreat Virginia, Inc. honors, connects, and assists the men and women who serve America, past or present, at home or away.
Providing peer support, activities and events, resources and referrals.
Honoring American Heroes
As a new organization, our short term goals are to meet and welcome our supporters and fans. We will continue honoring those who provide military and emergency response services, past and present.
Our medium term goals are to bring our community and partners together for camaraderie, activities, and networked referral assistance, as needed.
Our long term goals are to establish and operate our 24 hour health, wellness, education, social & activity center here in Virginia, USA.
Providing Assistance to the Military and First Responder Community
The mission of our organization is to take action to confront and reduce persistent challenges in our Service community: depression, PTSD, substance abuse, and suicidal thoughts.
We aim to advance health and wellness through education, training, counseling, referrals, and many varieties of organized and free-form activities.
We offer a comprehensive network for professional development, military to civilian career transitions, and lifelong learning opportunities.
Supporting Our Community
30 percent of active duty and reserve military personnel deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan have a mental health condition requiring treatment – approximately 730,000 men and women, with many experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and major depression.
Less than 50 percent of returning Veterans in need receive any mental health treatment.
The Veterans Administration reports that approximately 22 Veterans die by suicide every day (thenationalcouncil.org).
Public health and public safety workers experience a broad range of health and mental health consequences as a result of work-related exposures to natural or human-caused disasters (SAMHSA, 2018).
We must (also) focus on establishing solid and accessible peer-to-peer networks within communities, giving Veterans (and first responders) spaces to be open about their struggles. Experts will tell you social connections save lives (navytimes.com, 2022).
Vets’ Retreat Virginia, Inc. will continue to network and support initiatives that help the members of our community. Our objective is to make the right referral, to the right person, at the right time, any time that our services are requested or required.
Services and Eligibility
We do not require you to live or work in Virginia.
In April, 2024, we joined together with Halfwild Counseling, based in Ashland, VA, to offer licensed private counseling services. Services are provided in-person or by tele-health appointments within Virginia. We assist in cost-coverage on a partial to full basis, by referral, in cases where private health insurance is not available, accepted, or adequate to pay costs of care.
When we are able to obtain sufficient funds, through donations, sponsorships, and/or grants, we will build or buy our dedicated health and wellness facility here in Virginia.
Our vision is to establish and operate a 24 hour health, wellness, education, and social/activity center, on at least 50 acres of land.
This is what makes us different, if not unprecedented: We welcome and serve Heroes of all branches, components, ranks, duty statuses; federal, state, or local levels. We do not discriminate based on time, length, or location of service; wounded in action or injury on duty status, nor disability rating.
We offer our services at no charge to the individual or family.