The Foundation for Exceptional Warriors
Serve Together - Heal Together
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
After more than a decade of sustained conflict and multiple deployments, we now have entire generations of service members, veterans and military families that know nothing but War, and that War comes home with them. Our military families are carrying more than their share of burdens and challenges. Their immense personal cost is only just now being recognized. Their battles are real and never has a clear path to restoration been more needed yet found so scarce.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Reach
The FEW is an adventure based outreach program designed to reach Exceptional Warriors. Our events connect peers with shared experiences and bolster self-confidence. The FEW strives to inspire change in the Exceptional Warriors' perceptions and understand that they are not alone.
Recognize
Better emotional health is insured when The FEW recognizes the duties, deeds and decisions and the unique needs of Exceptional Warriors. These Warfighters are the cutting edge of the "tip of the spear" and greatly benefit from peer-based adventures and challenges.
Unique mental health improvements come from the patriotic civilians and other Veterans that host, guide, mentors, and celebrate the Exceptional Warriors.
Refresh
The cost-free events that The FEW provides extremely cathartic and are termed by doctors as "Therapeutic Recreation". This type of theraphy facitates connectedness, personal empowerment, and, we believe, that "it hydrates the soul".
Awareness and Advocacy
The FEW is vested in raising awareness and educating service and government agencies, and the general public of the unique needs and lack of aftercare for Exceptional Warriors.
Where we work
External reviews
Photos
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of veterans with PTSD served
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults, Caregivers, Families
Related Program
Reach
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
We serve decorated Veterans who have high levels of PTSD and TBI. The more Veterans we can provide adventures for the more lives we can save.
Number of rallies/events/conferences/lectures held to further mission
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Health
Related Program
Recognize
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Events include speaking engagements, concerts, Combined Federal Campaign, auctions, hunting, fishing ski diving trips and any other place where we can get the word out about The FEW's mission.
Number of public events held to further mission
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults, Caregivers, Families
Related Program
Reach
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Because of COVID, we did not attend or hold public events to talk about our mission. We did reach out to several veteran organizations such as Growing Veterans and Purple Heart.
Number of attendees present at rallies/events
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults, Caregivers, Families
Related Program
Reach
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
We serve all purple heart and medals of honor awardees, Special Operations, POW's and wounded warriors. Our events include 4 person hunt and 1500 person Rock-Lahoma concert.
Number of free participants on field trips
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Refresh
Type of Metric
Input - describing resources we use
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
The veterans we take on life changing events do not pay any costs. All of our events are sponsored or paid with donations.
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
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?
Here at The FEW, we focus on providing short-duration, high-impact retreats for this remarkable community of heroes, Our one goal: providing Exceptional Warriors with the rest, reconnection and recharging they deserve so they can heal and learn to live in the present and focus on their future. Many events are conducted in a rural setting which is often critical to the process, and holds a special connection to our Veterans, many of whom hail from rural settings. This setting provides our guests with a safe and friendly environment where they can escape the stresses of daily life, decompress, and begin planning for their future and the life they deserve - full of passion, purpose and service. The FEW's events are open to Exceptional Warriors from any generation.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
By using adventure, The FEW strives to inspire change in the Exceptional Warriors' perceptions, decrease their feelings of helplessness, and get away from the idea that they are alone.
We expand and focus on the Exceptional Warriors' strengths and abilities. The people we see need experience in doing differently, to experience themselves as different. They are seldom ready for another's insight. By using peer-to-peer “fireside therapy", they are often brought up to another level and can then seek that. They need to learn by doing first to realize their “new normal" and find their new mission because life doesn't change only the way you live it does.
The adventures are a catalyst to begin a new "journey" and facilitate efficacy.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
The FEW is very different in the fact that it was founded and is led by the same Warriors they serve. The FEW's board also has a vast amount of experience working with numerous military service foundations and collaborates with other organizations to support Veterans. We have "been there and done it", and we have returned and successfully transitioned.
The FEW mission unique, needed and critical. The very reasons that make The FEW unique is the same reasons that make it needed because if not for The FEW, Exceptional Warriors would continue to be greatly underserved.
Most Veteran's foundations limit their reach by exclusively serving the Combat Wounded. Consequently, they would not help Special Operations Veterans, such as Green Berets, Seals, Rangers, and Delta Force, former American Prisoners of War(POW), or the Valorous, such as a Medal of Honor recipient, unless they were awarded a Purple Heart.
Special Operations Forces(SOF) are the "Tip of the Spear" and as such they have the most demanding job in the military and are constantly deployed. On average, SOF are in over 75 counties across the world on any given day. These Warfighters are the "Force of Choice" and often go more than five years without an relief. An after 16+ years of war, some are simply breaking.
Some Exceptional Warriors have received awards for Valor. Valor is a decision to place another's safety or mission success before yourself in the most dire of moments. Many have saved the lives of their fellow teammates and suffer daily from the enduring effects of combat. Others went into fire to ensure that the mission was completed successfully.
Former POWs were forced to live under duress and fear of death 24 hours a day 7 days a week, the vast majority endured this for more than 24 months in captivity. These Heroes returned with Honor only because they protected each other and accepted torture for that protection and for not giving in or up.
Our mission is critical because very seldom are any other organizations proactively searching out and reaching these Heroes, and these are the same Veterans that have the highest drug and alcohol abuse, highest divorce rates, and some of the highest suicide rates. These Sentinels must be engaged now or America will continue to lose more Veteran by their own hand and not the enemy's.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Since inception in 2012, The FEW has held over 170 events across the Nation, Mexico, New Zealand, England, France and Canada and has impacted more than 2,500 Veterans.
In 2017 alone, we hosted 61 events and engaged more than 800 Veterans.
What's next? We will continue to reach into the shadows and find these Exceptional Warriors and take them on a life-changing event.
It is not passion or lack of events that limits us; it is solely funding. Because we are led by Exceptional Warriors it is often difficult to ask for funding even when funds are necessary to accomplish mission. But our leadership can directly relate to our Warfighters and change lives so we will continue to lead and raise funds best we can.
Founder's Note: What have you accomplished so far and what's next?
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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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
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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.
The Foundation for Exceptional Warriors
Board of directorsas of 04/14/2023
Ronny Sweger
Miami Phillips
Independent Life Coach
Ronny Sweger
The Foundation for Exceptional Warriors, Inc
Robbie Atkins
Keystone Energy Services
Claudia Sweger
Private Contractor
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? Not applicable -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Not applicable -
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? Not applicable
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
The organization's co-leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
No data
Gender identity
No data
Transgender Identity
No data
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data
Equity strategies
Last updated: 07/19/2021GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.