Supporting Our Country's Heroes

Gulf Coast Community Foundation and its donors proudly support veterans in our community. We value the significance of caring for our military heroes who have valiantly fought for our country, and we believe caring for a veteran and their spouse or support system is incredibly important. Gulf Coast connected with the nonprofit organization, GratitudeAmerica, to help veterans and their support person through Military Retreat Programs which have been instrumental in their lives.

GratitudeAmerica’s mission is to provide critical support for service members, veterans, and their families by conducting meaningful restorative programs to assist veterans affected by deployment exposures such as traumatic brain injury and combat-related stress. Their model relies on four core pillars: recreation, reconnection, restoration, and relaxation. Gulf Coast was honored to support GratitudeAmerica with two grants in 2021 and 2022 for its Military Support Retreat programs in Sarasota. 

In March 2021, GratitudeAmerica hosted their Military Support Retreat program in Sarasota, a new retreat location for the organization who hosts annual retreats in Tampa Bay. The reception from the community was overwhelming and made the retreat one of their most memorable to date. Retreats are provided at no cost to veterans, and are open to any post-9/11 veteran who served in combat regardless of discharge status from the Active Component, Reserve, or National Guard. Strategically, post 9/11 veterans are about twice as likely as their pre-9/11 counterparts to have served in a combat zone. They are more likely to suffer mental, emotional, and physical scars. 42 percent of post-9/11 veterans say deployment negatively impacted their mental health.

At the retreat, each veteran brings a support person ranging from a spouse to an adult child or friend. Inclusion of a partner or support person reinforces growth and ensures the veteran has an advocate as the healing journey continues. The organization’s programs’ ultimate goal is to lead veterans beyond their trauma, which they come to embrace as part of their story, not as the experience that defines their life going forward, giving them the tools needed to re-integrate post deployment. Gulf Coast recognized this is unique and impactful model.

The program also includes extensive post-retreat follow up that connects veterans with one another to help build the network of support while also fostering long-term mental health. At the retreats, participants are provided with a supportive environment to connect them with their peers, gain critical coping skills, and interact with licensed counselors to begin healing. Retreat activities include yoga, meditation, and nature-based recreation such as kayaking, ropes courses, and dolphin or equine interactions. 

Jennifer Johnston, Director of Community Leadership at Gulf Coast Community Foundation shared, “We are impressed with the leadership and vision of GratitudeAmerica and their commitment to providing best-practice resources to veterans and their support people. They are serving local veterans with assets across our region from the beach, to kayaking, to equine therapy at Prospect Riding Center. We appreciate the local veterans groups who are participating and our donors who make it all possible.”

One letter to Gulf Coast from a 2021 retreat participant’s spouse states: “This retreat has given me the hope that we can deal with the trauma and not let it rule our lives. If this was not a resource, I’m not sure what we would’ve done. Thank you for making this possible!” Another letter from a retreat participant states: “I struggle daily with trying to find hope again. I am thankful for Americans such as yourselves who still care about us and want to help us reintegrate back into society. This organization is doing wonders to help all of us, each participant at a time.” The grant for 2022 will continue to support Military Support Retreats in our community.