What if your gift could change the course of a life toward transformative growth?

This Holiday Season, Picture This:

A veteran—someone who’s given everything to protect us—standing in a quiet pasture beside a horse. For the first time in years, the weight of their unseen battles begins to lift. Hope returns. Healing begins. That’s the power of H.O.O.V.E.S.

Through our 5-Day Healing Intensives and equine-assisted programs, we help heroes, their partners and caregivers heal from the invisible wounds of trauma.

It’s not therapy as usual—it’s lasting transformation.

Real Veterans. Real Healing. Your Impact Makes It Possible:

This holiday season, join us to be part of something truly life-changing.
At H.O.O.V.E.S., we don’t just talk about healing—we prove it.

In 2024, we partnered with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs on a blind research study to measure the impact of our 5-Day Healing Intensives on veterans living with PTSD. The results were nothing short of remarkable: average PTSD scores dropped from 55 to 25—below the clinical cutoff. Even more powerful, 53% of participants no longer met the criteria for PTSD, and at 120 days after attending our program, those scores continued to fall to 21. The healing didn’t fade—it grew stronger, deepening into lasting transformation.

Veterans also reported less depression and anxiety, and a renewed sense of peace, purpose, and connection. The evidence is clear: the H.O.O.V.E.S. 5-Day Healing Intensives don’t just change lives—they restore them.

But this kind of transformation only happens because of people like you. Every donation fuels more moments of hope, more breakthroughs, and more heroes finding their way home.

You can be the reason a hero begins to heal! Together, we can expand our reach and bring lasting transformation to those who’ve sacrificed so much for
us all.

With gratitude,

Amanda Held,
Founder & CEO

Here are a few thanks to donors who have given the Gift of Healing to our heroes:

"I had given up. I was at the end of this road. I would never have invested in myself. You invested in me, my healing, my journey, and my future.

Your investment has saved my life and helped me forgive myself. Thank you for believing."

Clark S. | September 2025 Graduate

"I’ve been through numerous programs with the V.A., but nothing has stuck with me the way this program has. Now I know what it feels like to actually want to be helped.

Because of your generous donation, I want to be able to pay it forward.

From the bottom of my heart — thank you so much!"

Catherine M. | September 2025 Graduate

"For almost six months, I have donated my time here at H.O.O.V.E.S., volunteering to take care of the animals. I knew that the organization was providing a great service to veterans but I would not have fully understood the impact until I witnessed it first hand.

I appreciate your gift and your commitment to H.O.O.V.E.S.!

Patrick C. | September 2025 Graduate

Today, we invite you to watch and share this powerful story from Drake, a U.S. Marine veteran and H.O.O.V.E.S. alumnus. In this moving video, Drake opens up about his journey—from suicidal ideation to profound transformation—and how he found renewed purpose as a mentor, now training to become a facilitator to help others do the same.

Photo credit: Sean McConnell | Video credit: Josh Nagel Productions