CHALLENGE 22

Vision Statement:
To have a nationwide presence, in which veterans and communities come together to End Veteran Suicide.

Challenge 22 exists to End Veteran Suicide by raising awareness and funding programs that save veterans’ lives. We are successful because across the nation, we bring communities together with our veterans and first responders, who are suffering from debilitating mental, moral and physical trauma along with suicidal ideation to raise awareness and provide resources to our fully-vetted, partner organizations, who are experiencing amazing results towards the fulfillment of our mission to End Veteran Suicide.
History: In 2012, the Veterans Administration conducted a study to examine the growing number of veterans who were dying everyday from the Post-traumatic Stress (PTS) and Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI) sustained from events that occurred while serving our country. Amazingly, they found that veterans were dying at a rate of more than 22 per day. Today more veterans have died since 9/11/01 than all the combat deaths from Korea, Vietnam and all the other conflicts since, combined.
Since then, there have been numerous conflicting studies on how much progress is being made. Some show a dramatic improvement to just over 17 per day, while many have expressed concern that the sample size did not include those not registered within the VA system. Therefore, other studies have found the number could be closer to 44 per day. What really matters is that “one” is too many!
Despite nationwide efforts, the suicide epidemic among veterans persists at alarming rates. The statistics for our first responder communities are very similar. Every day, 22 veterans and first responders die by suicide, at a rate that reflects not only a mental health crisis, but a systemic failure to connect at-risk individuals with timely, effective care. Thousands of mentally and physically wounded veterans face isolation, trauma, and obstacles to reintegration often falling through the cracks of an overwhelmed and fragmented support system. Many grassroots nonprofits are making measurable strides in suicide prevention and rehabilitation, yet they frequently lack the resources, reach, or visibility to reach and serve all those in need.
Meanwhile, communities often remain unaware of both the depth of the crisis and the life-saving solutions readily available. When made aware, they want to do their part to “serve those who served them” by offering their time and resources. This disconnect between the needs, awareness, and access to life-saving services represents a critical gap in the national response to veteran and first responder mental health.
In 2017, some of the members of American Legion Post 63 in Winter Garden Florida learned about what has happening and decided to do something to help. This small team of dedicated individuals planned and conducted their 1st Annual Challenge 22 event. Ever since, Challenge 22 events have been popping up all over Florida and in other locations nationwide.
Just by asking, we have seen hundreds of local volunteers get involved to help; many who have never served and had no direct affiliation with any veterans or first responders. They are just members of the community who want to do their part to stop this crisis. It is amazing what happens when you just ask!
So what is a Challenge 22 event? The simple answer is a Challenge 22 event is any effort that brings communities, veterans, fraternal or service organizations, churches, companies, clubs and neighborhoods, etc. together with our vetted non-profit service providers and our Warriors and Hero's, to provide resources and services to stop them from ultimately succumbing to their Post Traumatic Stress Injuries. Note: We call it PTS, as opposed to PTSD, because we do not really consider it a disorder, but an injury that can be healed.
Each Challenge 22 event (which can be a walk, a run, a poker night, a sporting tournament, a comedy night, a picnic, or anything identified to be beneficial towards engaging their local community) raises money and awareness to help End Veteran Suicide.
In 2022, the Winter Garden, FL event guest speaker was the former interim Secretary of the Veterans Administration under President Trump, the Honorable Peter O’Rourke. While on our 2.2-mile ruck, he indicated that it was his opinion the Veterans Administration cannot be the solution to this suicide problem. He said the answer lies within a community-by-community approach, using exactly the same model that Challenge 22, Inc is using. He highly encouraged us to consider expanding nationwide, which is exactly what we are pursuing.
In 2023, the 501c(3) non-profit, Challenge 22, Inc was founded and incorporated by this same group of Winter Garden, FL veterans and volunteers. As a 501c(3), their efforts are further enhanced due some of the significant restrictions found while operating under the American Legion’s 501c(19) nonprofit umbrella. Though the American Legion has since changed its focus away from Challenge 22 events, their national “Be The One” program was rooted from the same suicide prevention efforts of these early Challenge 22 events.
Since 2017, our Challenge 22 events have raised just under three quarters of a million dollars. More importantly, our service providers have helped serve more than 10,000 veterans across Florida and the United States to personalized care from trauma recovery and mental health services; to purpose-building programs; and to equine and service dog training; to cohort studies, resiliency clinics and various memory reconsolidation techniques.
Challenge 22, Inc. serves as a force multiplier in terms of educating, connecting and directing funding to those who need it the most. By cutting overhead and only funding what works, we have achieved something extraordinary. Through our efforts, there has not been a single reported suicide among those who have been helped.
Because of our intensive service-provider vetting processes, those who donate to Challenge 22, Inc can rest assured their resources are fully exploited by those with proven results towards the goal Ending Veteran Suicide and successfully reintegrating them back into society. Additionally, our clients (veterans, active duty, first responders and family members) can rest assured of the available services they offer actually work.
The services we offer can be very expensive but are available nationwide. If you know of one of our Warriors or Heros who are still suffering, please have them contact us. We will then make arrangements for them – at no cost to the individual. With the help of our generous donors, companies, foundations, governments and individual grantors, we have huge goals for growth as our model has proven itself to truly work. In 5-10 years, it is our expectation to be a $10m+ per year organization helping anyone who requests it.