TRAGEDY ASSISTANCE PROGRAM FOR SURVIVORS

Since 1994, the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS) has been the national nonprofit organization providing compassionate care and critical resources for all those grieving the death of a military or veteran loved one. Regardless of the circumstances or geography of the death, TAPS provides 24/7 support, services, programs, connection, and hope, all at no cost to surviving families.

Through a trauma-informed, peer-based model of care, TAPS offers comprehensive programs that promote safety, stabilization, healthy grief, and meaning making. Military survivors are welcomed into a lifelong community that honors their loved ones while helping them rebuild their lives.

TAPS provides:

- 24/7 National Military Survivor Helpline: Offers immediate, compassionate support and guidance to surviving military family members, ensuring help is available anytime, day or night. Helpline staff are trained in crisis support and all aspects of suicide-related support.

- National Peer Support Network & Mentorship: Survivors connect one-on-one and in groups with others who share their experiences of loss. TAPS has trained 1,000+ peer mentors nationwide to provide ongoing support for the military loss community.

- Clinical and Crisis Support: TAPS offers immediate care for survivors in distress, including connections to professional grief counseling and local support groups. Additionally, the TAPS Crisis Response Team is capable of responding to real-time crises in the military community, including support military units with immediate stabilization support due to losses such as training accidents or suicide loss.

- Casework & Education Assistance: Provides individualized support to help surviving families navigate complex benefits, educational opportunities, and financial resources. TAPS advocates on behalf of survivors to connect them with federal, state, and private programs, ensuring access to scholarships, tuition assistance, and essential services that foster long-term stability and growth.

- National and Regional Events: Retreats, seminars, and empowerment programs for adults provide healing opportunities and build lifelong connections.

- Youth Programs: Specialized programming supporting bereaved children and teens at Good Grief Camps and Family Camps across the country.

- Young Adult Program: Provides tailored peer support, mentorship, and social engagement opportunities for grieving military-connected young adults, fostering resilience, life skills, and a lifelong network of support during critical transitional years.

- Military Mentor Program: Connects active duty service members and veterans with grieving military children at TAPS Good Grief Camps, fostering trust, connection, and healing. Mentors receive structured training in grief- and trauma-informed peer support, leadership, mentorship, and suicide prevention/postvention, empowering them to guide children while strengthening their own mental health, resilience, and sense of purpose. As trained mentors return to their home units worldwide, they bring these skills back to their communities, enhancing stability, readiness, and peer support across the military. They also join a nationwide network of thousands of TAPS Military Mentors, ensuring ongoing connection, guidance, and support throughout their service.

- Suicide Prevention, Intervention, and Postvention initiatives: Specialized programs provide care following suicide loss and education to reduce risk among grieving families. Additionally, TAPS provides psychoeducation training on all suicide-related topics for government, civilian, and corporate partners.

- Empowerment and Resilience Programs: Equip surviving adult military family members with tools, mentorship, and skill-building opportunities to strengthen emotional well-being, leadership, self-sufficiency, and long-term resilience.

- Sports & Entertainment: Engages the sports, entertainment, and media communities to honor and memorialize America’s fallen heroes while inspiring healing, connection, and resilience among surviving families through shared experiences and meaningful events.

- TAPS Institute for Hope and Healing®: The leading national resource for grief education and training, equipping caregivers, clinicians, and communities with evidence-informed tools to better support military families and others coping with loss.

TAPS serves 26 new military survivors every day, and has supported more than 120,000 surviving military family members across all 50 states and territories. Every program and service is provided free of charge, made possible through the generosity of donors, corporate partners, and volunteers.

Together, we ensure that America’s fallen heroes are never forgotten — and their families are never alone.

Access the TAPS 2024 Impact Report at https://www.taps.org/impact/2024