Special Ops Survivors
Embracing and Empowering Survivors of Our Fallen Heroes
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Annual Survivors' Conferences
Each year, Special Ops Survivors holds at least one Survivors Conference, in which the organization covers the cost of all workshop costs, lodging, and meals for survivors. The Survivors Conferences are events designed to foster peer-based connections and support systems while providing practical life-skills training to assist survivors on their post-loss journeys. The conferences include workshops and training, social activities, and recuperative time so that survivors depart energized and refreshed and ready to take on the next part of their journeys. Each conference is unique in its own way and directly addresses topics identified by survivors as those needed to assist them in their journeys.
"Forget-Me-Not" Outreaches
Special Ops Survivors provides ongoing resources and support to survivors throughout the year including specific outreaches on important dates like holidays, birthdays and to honor the date each survivor lost their hero.
Direct Financial Support
Special Ops Survivors provides targeted financial support. Survivors are able to apply for education and career advancement grants to encourage and assist them as they pursue their education and training to further their careers. Often working in tandem, childcare grant funding is designed to help survivors with childcare costs for those who are employed, either full-time or part-time, and/or pursuing advancement in their education. From unexpected medical or household bills, sometimes survivors have financial emergencies. Special Ops Survivors also provides emergency financial aid to address these shortfalls.
Where we work
External reviews
Photos
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Special Ops Survivors is exclusively dedicated to serving survivors of Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Special Operations personnel who have died in combat or training or service-related illness or injury even after retirement. The organization embraces and empowers survivors to build healthy, post-loss futures as they transition to their new lives by providing individual, group, and peer-to-peer emotional support as well as individual financial support. From survivors who may only be weeks or months from the loss to those who are years out, Special Ops Survivors works with survivors wherever they may be in their grief journey. Programs include an annual conference, forget-me-not-outreaches and direct financial support that provide survivors access to the emotional support and resources they need to live a healthy post-loss future.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Special Ops Survivors understands the healing power of not having to weather a tragedy alone. Because survivors are connected to each other by how their spouses died and also how they lived as Special Operations families, the bonds among our survivors are both strong and lasting. While Special Ops Survivors cannot bring back a survivor's loved one, our programs help ease the transition to a new life – a life that honors the legacy of their loved one. The organization does this by providing access to a community of other survivors who have gone through, survived and overcome similar obstacles. Programs center on individual and group emotional support as well as individual financial support. Special Ops Survivors programs are currently serving more than 238 survivors in 37 states.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Meeting its mission with a small paid staff, Special Ops Survivors has had maximum impact for the survivors who access services. Currently, the organization meets its mission with an executive director. Special Ops Survivors also has an engaged and dedicated board of directors actively involved in providing strategic direction, oversight and fundraising. Volunteers through TEAM Special Ops Survivors are engaged in fundraising efforts and helping to make strategic partnerships for the organization.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Every day Special Operations personnel from the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines train and engage in missions around the globe out of the public eye. Even when large scale military operations cease, their work continues. And sadly many have made the ultimate sacrifice giving their lives for our country leaving behind a legacy of honor, sacrifice and commitment as well as their surviving spouse and family. As a result, Special Ops Survivors work continues to reach new surviving spouses and further engage those who are already a part of the organization. Through the last several years, the organization has undergone new branding to better reflect its mission, increased the number, knowledge base and capacity of its board of directors, refined programs, and developed a new TEAM program. Ongoing program assessment and board expansion is expected in the years to come.
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Special Ops Survivors
Board of directorsas of 07/24/2020
Andy Wirth
Herbert Wilmer
Kathy Humphreys
Laura LaPeze
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? No