Tony
Bonanno

After retiring from 21 years of military service in the Coast Guard, traveling most of North America, and then finding solace in Veteran communities, I want to help support Veterans. When Veterans transition from activie duty to civilian life, they are thrown out from a family, a support system, a culture; into a foreign land that they love and risked their lives to protect. A land that does not know how to love them back. Many are disabled physically, many more are disabled mentally. I was shown the path to education, to prove in the civilian world that I am worth the same as I was in the military world and I am using that education to help other veterans find their own paths. Veterans account for over 20% of nation-wide suicides; because we are cut off from our support systems we depended on during active duty; programs like Challenge Aspen recognize the need to build community and skills, provide a mission; this aligns with my goals to give every Veteran hope that there is life after service.