UPDATE: We reached the $16,000 goal! Thank you to all who donated. If you still want to contribute we'll leave donations open for a stretch goal. 🙏

Our veterans need your support. Too many struggle to adjust back to civilian life after combat deployments, high-stress jobs, or military sexual trauma. And veterans aren't alone. According to the US Surgeon General there is a mental health crisis throughout our country. Suicide remains rampant.

What works? It turns out supportive, open communication among peers can go a long way in supporting positive mental health outcomes. This is called “peer support.” Who better to support someone suffering than someone who has had similar experiences?

Growing Veterans offers an innovative peer support training. The training has been evaluated and is effective. It is literally life changing (and life-saving). Our veterans deserve not only our thanks for their service, but our help. A culture of peer support is just what our veterans, and our society, needs right now!

A personal note from Chris Brown, President and a founder of Growing Veterans:

As a wounded combat veteran who was involved in the early stages of this training and has spent the past 8 years as a mental health provider for trauma survivors - leading weekly groups and helping people improve their relationships - I believe so strongly in this training and it's potential to change our world.

So the Board of Directors and I are putting our money where our mouth is.

The Growing Veterans Board of Directors has a goal to raise $16,000 to support bringing our Peer Support Training online this year. Collectively, we are pledging $8,000 as a match to help us reach this goal. We ask you to consider donating to help us reach the other $8,000.

These funds will help Growing Veterans begin building out a new learning management system to host the training online and allow individuals and teams to access the training on-demand.

Please consider donating however much you can to help us get to the $8,000 match, so together we can make an impact on the future of Growing Veterans and their ability to better support our world! A world that's in desperate need of a culture of peer support...

If you have any questions please contact me or Jered Bocek, the Executive Director of Growing Veterans.

Thank you for your generosity in helping us reach this goal!

Christopher Brown
Growing Veterans Founder & President

Learn More about the Peer Support Training:

For the past 12 years Growing Veterans has been living out a model of peer support. They developed a robust Peer Support training program that's been evaluated and proven through peer-reviewed research. Everyone who takes the training refers to its unique and innovative approach, often calling it "life-changing", "just what I needed", or "the best training I've ever had".

Designed with ALL humans in mind, this Peer Support training is a cultural-change tool, giving individuals and teams the knowledge, skills, and ability to transform their interactions with the people in their lives - at home, at work, and in the world. Mental health providers can even earn 20.5 continuing education credits for taking the training.

Growing Veterans is in the initial stage of bringing this training online to make it accessible for all people throughout the United States - taking care to not lose the essence of what makes the training so special.