Healing happens
together.
Holistic retreats focused on restorative well-being and transformational growth for veterans, active military members and their dependents, built on peer-to-peer support.
Our Pillars
A place of enlightenment, empowerment and community for our veterans.
Enlightenment
The flame brings us light and the ability to see within and those around us more clearly. It will light the path to healing and resolve.
Empowerment
The circle of friends and alliances we make will help forge a sense of community and we will learn and grow from our shared experiences.
Community
As we stand shoulder to shoulder and extend our support, we can empower ourselves as well as those around us.
Small groups. Shared ground. Veterans helping veterans.
Each retreat brings together a cohort of 12, about the size of a squad. Participants live, train and heal side by side, and the group becomes the kind of close unit many veterans haven’t felt since leaving service. In that closeness, trust comes quickly and people can speak openly.
At the heart of every retreat is peer-to-peer support: veterans walking alongside veterans who understand what they’ve carried. Healing modalities and outdoor therapy help participants reconnect with themselves, with each other and with the natural world. The bond doesn’t end when the retreat does, because our alumni peer network keeps the unit together long after everyone heads home.
What we do
Veterans Treatment Court Fellowship Retreat
Peer-support retreats for veterans and service members in Veterans Treatment Court programs, offered as part of the court’s therapeutic curriculum and held in different cities.
Military Youth Golf Retreat
This program provides rehabilitative golf experiences and family inclusive golf opportunities to the youth of fallen service members and wounded war veterans in an effort to improve the quality of life for these children.
“In Their Hands” Book Gifting Program
Places The Bronze Scar: Understanding How PTSD Feels to Help Victims and Those Who Support Them, by our Retreat Chaplain, Col. (Ret.) Steven E. West, DMin, in the hands of veterans and their families.
Upcoming and recent retreats
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Apr
2027
Beyond the Fight Retreat
Storytelling for veterans and transitioning service members: film, writing, podcast and more. April 2027, Sedona, Arizona. - 2027
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01
Mar
2024
Veterans Treatment Court Fellowship Retreat
The Montgomery County Veterans Treatment Court Fellowship Retreat will host twelve Veteran Treatment Court participants at the end of… -
01
Dec
2023
Veterans Treatment Court Fellowship Retreat
The Montgomery County Veterans Treatment Court Fellowship Retreat will host twelve Veteran Treatment Court participants at the end of…
Led by veterans who have been there
Co-founded VRF in 2015 and leads its strategy, partnerships and retreats.
More than two decades in the U.S. Army Infantry. The 366th soldier to earn the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier Identification Badge.
29 years in the U.S. Army, culminating as Commandant and Command Sergeant Major of the 101st Airborne Division. Author of Embedded Enemy.
41 years as an Air Force and Army chaplain. Author of The Bronze Scar, and open about living with PTSD himself.
Every retreat is free for the veterans who attend.
Your gift covers lodging, meals, travel and programming. More than 100 veterans are on our waiting list.
Tax-deductible · View our 501(c)(3) Determination Letter
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