Healing Hearts: Mental Health & Support for Veterans & Families

Behind every uniform is a human story—of courage, sacrifice, and, too often, invisible wounds. Many of the veterans and families we serve are quietly carrying PTSD, anxiety, depression, grief, or the aftermath of suicide loss while still trying to manage jobs, bills, and caregiving. They may not know where to turn, or they simply cannot afford consistent mental health support.
The Healing Hearts Project is Papa’s Purple Heart’s dedicated initiative to support the mental and emotional well-being of veterans and their families through connection, education, and access to resources.

Through Healing Hearts, we:
1. Offer compassionate check-ins and peer-style support
- Gentle phone calls, texts, or messages to veterans, spouses, and family members who feel isolated or overwhelmed.
- A listening ear that reminds them: “You are seen. You are not alone.”
- Provide practical mental health resource guides
2. Easy-to-use guides that list:
- Crisis lines and suicide prevention hotlines
- Local and virtual counseling options
- Veteran-specific mental health programs
- Grief and suicide loss support resources for families
3. Host small-group gatherings and workshops In-person (when possible) or virtual sessions on:
- Coping with stress, anxiety, and trauma
- Grief and loss, including suicide loss
- Self-care and emotional regulation
- How to support a loved one who is struggling
4. Assemble and distribute “Healing Hearts Care Kits” which include:
- A journal or notebook
- Calming items (tea, stress ball, comfort items)
- Encouraging messages and affirmation or scripture cards (when appropriate for the family)
- Information on mental health resources, crisis lines, and how to get help quickly
5. Help cover the cost of counseling
- Limited financial support toward counseling sessions or co-pays
- Partnerships with local providers or community organizations to stretch each dollar further
- Priority support for those facing grief, trauma, or suicide loss

Our goal is not to replace professional mental health care, but to bridge the gap to make sure veterans and families are not struggling in silence and that they know where to turn for help.

Through the Healing Hearts Project, Papa’s Purple Heart seeks to:
1. Reduce isolation by making consistent, caring contact with veterans and families.
2. Normalize conversations about mental health, grief, and trauma in the veteran community.
3. Connect families earlier to professional help and crisis resources, before a situation becomes a crisis.
4. Honor families affected by suicide or loss with compassionate follow-up, care kits, and practical emotional support.

Every point of contact—whether a care kit, a check-in, or a workshop—is an opportunity to say: “Your story matters. Your life matters. You are not alone.”

Your donation to the Healing Hearts Project helps us:
1. Print and assemble mental health resource guides
2. Design, printing, and distribution of clear, accessible information packets for veterans and family members.
3. Create and distribute Healing Hearts Care Kits
4. Journals, calming items, affirmation/scripture cards (when desired), and resource sheets for veterans, spouses, and surviving family members.
5. Host small-group workshops and gatherings
6. Materials, refreshments, and printed resources for in-person and virtual sessions focused on mental health, grief, and coping skills.
7. Provide partial support for counseling sessions or co-pays (as funds allow)
8. Helping veterans or family members in crisis access professional, timely care.
9. Strengthen ongoing follow-up and support
10. Expanding our capacity to check in with families after a loss, during anniversaries, holidays, or especially difficult seasons.

Donation Impact
$25 can help provide one Healing Hearts Care Kit to a veteran or surviving family member.
$50 can help print and distribute mental health resource guides for a small group or support circle.
$100 can help cover refreshments and materials for a Healing Hearts workshop or gathering.
$250 can help provide partial support toward counseling sessions or co-pays for a veteran or family member in crisis.