On July 16, Janet Lander sent an email that stopped me in my tracks.
The Alfred H. and Janet L. Lander Family Charitable Foundation had just approved our application — not for the $5,000 we requested, but for $7,500. Five full spots in our veteran PTSD recovery program, funded by a board in Clarion, Pennsylvania that has never met a single one of the veterans they just gave a shot at recovery.
What the Lander Grant Funds in Our Veteran PTSD Recovery Program
$7,500 is exactly five veterans through the full six months of our recovery program. Each one gets a sponsored gym membership at one of our 40-plus partner facilities across 38-plus states, 24 sessions with a certified Precision Nutrition coach, and a Battle Buddy mentor who checks in every week for all six months. The Battle Buddy is a post-9/11 combat veteran who completed WarriorWOD and stayed. Most of them stay because they know what it looked like to need one.
Every dollar of the Lander grant goes directly to those five veterans. None of it funds overhead.
I know what this program means from the inside. I’m a Marine Corps combat veteran, Purple Heart recipient, diagnosed with PTSD and traumatic brain injury after coming home from the Battle of Ramadi. Exercise, nutrition, and routine found my recovery before I had words for what had happened to me. In 2020, I lost five veteran friends to suicide during the pandemic. WarriorWOD was my answer to that loss.
What the Research on Veteran PTSD Recovery Shows
In 2024, the College of Charleston conducted an independent evaluation of WarriorWOD led by Dr. Katie Trejo Tello, Ph.D. She had no affiliation with WarriorWOD and was not subject to our review of findings.
Veterans entered with average PCL-5 scores of 43.37, in the probable PTSD range. They finished at 28.95, below the clinical threshold. That is a 14.42-point reduction in PTSD severity — a 38.25 percent reduction — statistically significant at p<.001, with a Cohen’s d of 1.33. Every symptom cluster moved in the right direction: avoidance, hyperarousal, re-experiencing, and negative alterations in cognition. Read the full data at warriorwod.org/veteran-ptsd-recovery-program-research/.
Of the 265 veterans who have completed the full six months, 90.4 percent showed measurable PTSD symptom reduction. Nine of those veterans entered with active suicidal ideation and remain alive. According to the 2023 VA National Veteran Suicide Prevention Annual Report, the national veteran suicide rate stands at 35.2 per 100,000 — 93.4 percent higher than the civilian rate. That gap does not close by waiting.
The Lander Family Foundation’s first funding priority is programs that promote physical and mental health through fitness opportunities and access to services, resources, and qualified care providers. Read that sentence again. It is a description of WarriorWOD, word for word.
To Janet and the entire board: the veterans who walk into a partner gym this fall do not know your names. They will feel what your decision made possible.
Stand with the Lander Foundation
If their example moves you, the door is open.
Each veteran’s full six-month program costs $1,500, or $125 per month. Monthly giving at warriorwod.org/monthly-giving-veteran-ptsd/ is how most WarriorWOD veterans get enrolled. A monthly gift of $125 funds one full month of gym access, nutrition coaching, and a trained Battle Buddy. You can also give once or monthly at warriorwod.org/give/.
I am uncompensated as founder. The organization runs on one paid staff position and a network of volunteers who once sat where the veterans we now serve are sitting.
If you have been looking for a veteran recovery program where your money funds a gym membership, a nutrition coach, and a Battle Buddy — not overhead, not a salary line — this is it.
Give Monthly to Support Veteran PTSD Recovery
Frequently Asked Questions
What does the Lander Foundation grant fund at WarriorWOD? The $7,500 grant funds five veterans through the complete six-month veteran PTSD recovery program: gym access at a partner facility, 24 Precision Nutrition coaching sessions, and a VA S.A.V.E.-trained Battle Buddy mentor for all 26 weeks. There is no cost to the veteran.
How effective is WarriorWOD’s veteran PTSD recovery program? An independent 2024 evaluation by Dr. Katie Trejo Tello, Ph.D., of the College of Charleston found a 14.42-point PCL-5 reduction across 21 matched veteran pairs (p<.001, Cohen’s d=1.33). Of the 265 veterans who have completed the program, 90.4 percent showed measurable PTSD symptom reduction and 15 percent showed reduced substance use.
How can I fund a veteran the way the Lander Foundation did? A monthly gift of $125 at warriorwod.org/monthly-giving-veteran-ptsd/ covers one full month of the veteran PTSD recovery program for one veteran. $1,500 funds the complete six months. You can also give at warriorwod.org/give/.
WarriorWOD Foundation is a 501(c)(3) public charity, EIN 87-1065126. Donations are tax-deductible to the extent provided by law.