Caring for veterans — every day, in every way we can.
At VFW Post 969, Veteran Outreach isn't a program with a start and end date. It's a way of life. Every week, our members are out in the community — driving veterans to appointments, checking on isolated comrades, helping with VA claims, standing with families in mourning, walking beside our brothers and sisters who are struggling.
No veteran should ever feel forgotten. That's the promise Post 969 keeps.
🚗 Getting Veterans to Their VA Appointments
Rides to and from American Lake, Madigan, and Tacoma VA — because a missed appointment can mean a missed diagnosis.
🏠 Checking On Isolated Veterans
Home visits, phone calls, and welfare checks for veterans who live alone, are homebound, or don't have family nearby.
📋 Helping With VA Claims and Benefits
Connecting veterans with VFW Service Officers who can help file disability claims, appeals, pension applications, and healthcare enrollment — at no cost.
🎁 Supporting Homeless Veterans
Coordinating with local shelters, food banks, and outreach programs serving unhoused veterans in Pierce County.
❤️ Supporting Widows, Widowers, and Gold Star Families
Standing with the families of veterans and service members who never came home. See our Star Family Recognitionwork on the Americanism → page.
🇺🇸 Supporting Deployed Troops and Their Families
Care packages, welcome-home events, and family support during deployments.
⚰️ Bereavement and Memorial Support
Standing with families when a Post member or fellow veteran completes their final tour of duty (Taps →, Honor Guard →).
☕ Being There, Simply.
Sometimes the most important outreach is a cup of coffee, a hand on a shoulder, and a fellow veteran who understands. Our doors are open.
Post 969 supports VA's National Buddy Check initiative.
The idea is simple: Every veteran calls, texts, or visits one other veteran on a regular basis — just to check in. That's it.
Studies show that the strongest protective factor against veteran isolation is another veteran who cares enough to call(VA News).
You do not need training. You do not need to know what to say. You just need to pick up the phone.
Ask three questions:
"How are you really doing?"
"What's been on your mind lately?"
"Is there anything I can help you with?"
Then listen. Really listen.
When outreach needs to go deeper than a check-in, Post 969 offers the Buddy-Buddy Program.
Veterans like you — who have shared a similar experience or trauma in one of our nation's many conflicts — are available to talk with you openly, privately, and confidentially, and help you deal with the issues that come with the experience of service.
A Buddy is not a therapist. Not a counselor. Not a caseworker.
A Buddy is a fellow veteran who has been there.
Someone who understands what it's like to come home and not feel at home. Someone who knows the sound of a Chinook overhead. Someone who understands why fireworks aren't always fun. Someone who won't judge, won't rush, and won't repeat what you tell them.
📞 Reach out to Post 969 — call, email, or come to a meeting
🤝 We match you with a veteran who shares a similar background (branch, era, MOS, or life experience)
☕ You connect — over coffee, over the phone, at the Post, wherever feels right
🕊️ You talk — as much or as little as you want, as often as you need
🔒 It stays private — Buddies do not share what you say
Interested in being matched with a Buddy — or serving as one?
📞 253-272-1405
✉️ adj@vfw969.org
After a traumatic experience, it is normal to feel frightened, sad, anxious, and disconnected.
But if the upset doesn't fade — if you feel stuck with a constant sense of danger and painful memories, if you can't sleep, if the anger won't let go, if you're using something (alcohol, pills, isolation) just to get through the day — you may be suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
It can seem like you'll never get over what happened. Like you'll never feel normal again.
That is not true. Help exists. Recovery is real. Other veterans have walked this exact road and come out the other side. You can too.
You were not alone then. You are not alone now.
There are 20 million veterans who would give their lives for you. Please — don't take yours.
If you are struggling, if you are in pain, if you just need to talk — please reach out. Right now. We are here.
💬 Text: 838255
🌐 Chat online: VeteransCrisisLine.net/Chat
Available 24 hours a day. 7 days a week. 365 days a year.
You do not have to be enrolled in VA benefits or health care to call.
You do not have to have combat experience.
You do not have to be in danger — you can call because you're just having a bad day.
More than 1,100 trained responders — many of them veterans themselves — are standing by right now to listen.
The old number 1-800-273-8255 (press 1) still works. Both numbers connect to the same Crisis Line (VA News, 2022).
📞 988, then Press 1
💬 Text 838255
Available 24/7 for all veterans and their loved ones
📞 1-800-MyVA411 (1-800-698-2411) — the "always the right number" for any VA question
🌐 mentalhealth.va.gov — full directory of VA mental health resources
🌐 VA.gov/REACH — resources to help a veteran or family in need
📞 1-855-838-8255 — 24/7 confidential peer support from fellow veterans
📞 1-800-959-TAPS (8277) — 24/7 support for families and loved ones of fallen veterans
🌐 taps.org
🏥 VA Puget Sound — American Lake (Lakewood, WA) — the main VA medical center for South Sound veterans
🏥 Madigan Army Medical Center (Joint Base Lewis-McChord) — for active duty, retirees, and TRICARE beneficiaries
🏥 Tacoma VA CBOC — community-based outpatient clinic
If someone you love is a veteran and you're worried about them, you don't have to figure this out alone.
📞 Call the Veterans Crisis Line at 988, Press 1 — you don't have to be a veteran to call. Family members can call for information, guidance, or crisis support.
📞 Call Post 969: 253-272-1405 — we can connect you with resources, veteran-to-veteran support for your loved one, or just listen.
🌐 Coaching Into Care — free VA service that helps family members guide a veteran toward VA care.
You are not alone either.