Empowering Veterans Through Programs, Services, and Advocacy

Suicide can be difficult to talk about, but avoiding the subject can reinforce stigma and leave people feeling alone. Open, direct, and compassionate conversations can help someone feel seen and create a path to support.

The summit was close enough for Tonya Oxendine to picture herself standing at the top. After months of training, miles of steep terrain, and more than 15,000 feet of climbing, the 60-year-old Army veteran had only about a day and a half left before reaching the peak of Mount Kilimanjaro.

Filing for VA benefits is not the same for all veterans or service members. For many, filing for VA disability benefits can feel overwhelming because the process changes depending on where you are in your journey. 

For younger generations who were not alive on 9/11, the day itself may feel like history. But the people shaped by that moment were young once, too. Their stories offer a human bridge between what happened then and what service and resilience can mean now.

Chronic pain affects millions of Americans, but veterans experience it at higher rates. Research shows that chronic pain is one of the most common health concerns affecting veterans.