Balanced Veterans
Unconventional Healing for Conventional Forces
Balanced Veterans
EIN: 84-1854742
as of September 2023
as of September 18, 2023
Mission
Balanced Veterans Network is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization (EIN: 84-1854742). The mission of BVN is to create and facilitate a safe space for the education, advocacy, and empowerment of all alternative therapies for veterans and their families. We partner with professionals, businesses, and organizations to support veterans and their families in living an enriched, more balanced life. BVN provides education to empower veterans in using alternative therapies to combat the deadly opioid crisis, suicide epidemic, homelessness and other alarming issues plaguing our community. Current medical research supports that many non-traditional alternative therapies can effectively treat mental health issues in the Veteran community, such as PTSD, anxiety, and depression.
Ruling year
2019
Co-Founder and Chairman
Caleb Masoner
Main address
454 Kerry Way
Grayslake, IL 60030 USA
Formerly known as
Balanced Veterans
EIN
84-1854742
Patients' rights
Community mental health care
Transitional mental health services
Mental health counseling
Sociology
Population served
Unemployed people
Self-employed people
Retired people
Military personnel
Veterans
NTEE code
Military/Veterans' Organizations (W30)
IRS subsection
501(c)(3) Public Charity
IRS filing requirement
This organization is required to file an IRS Form 990-N.
Tax forms
Communication
Programs and results
Reports and documents
Download annual reportsWhat we aim to solve
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Veteran Medical Marijuana Card Reimbursement
We want to remove barriers to natural medicine. This program reimburses any veteran in the United States for up to $50 a year towards the purchase or renewal of their medical cannabis card.
Medical Marijuana Certifications
We have partnered with providers around the country to provide marijuana certifications for low to no cost for veterans in participating states. Visit https://balancedveterans.org/mmj-card/ to see if your state is a participating state.
Awareness and Outreach
BVN participates in health and wellness events to make contact with veterans to let them know about our mission and that they have access education surrounding these modalities.
Alternative Therapy Education
This program provides an private online platform for veterans to access learning modules, watch and interact with live subject matter experts, and interact with others seeking similar alternative modalities.
Where we work
External reviews
Photos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Hours of expertise provided
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Veterans
Related Program
Alternative Therapy Education
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of groups/individuals benefiting from tools/resources/education materials provided
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Veterans
Related Program
Alternative Therapy Education
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Total dollar amount of grants awarded
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Veterans
Related Program
Veteran Medical Marijuana Card Reimbursement
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
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?
The Department of Veterans Affairs currently has an approach that involves pharmaceuticals rather than prioritizing natural modalities, leaving many veterans on their own to self-educate about natural approaches. In many locations, veterans cannot even have a discussion with their VA provider about these potential life saving modalities without having their records marked with "cannabis use disorder". Veterans are released from service with little guidance or resources on how to navigate their health and/or healing journey from traumas they may have received during service. BVN aims to fix these issues by providing a safe place to simply have a discussion and provide needed resources if a natural healing path is pursued by a veteran and/or a veteran family.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Balanced Veterans Network (BVN) is aiming to increase veterans knowledge, understanding, and access to resources surrounding alternative therapies. BVN aims to break down these stigmas by providing in person events to help build camaraderie, hosting an online private community for veterans and their families to have a safe space to inquire and grow without backlash, and educating veterans by bringing in specialists and subject matter experts so they can learn more about new available modalities.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on demographics (e.g., race, age, gender, etc.), We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We share the feedback we received with the people we serve
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback, It is difficult to find the ongoing funding to support feedback collection, Staff find it hard to prioritize feedback collection and review due to lack of time, It is hard to come up with good questions to ask people, It is difficult to get honest feedback from the people we serve, It is difficult to identify actionable feedback
Financials
Financial data
Balanced Veterans
Revenue & expensesFiscal Year: 2022
SOURCE: Self-reported by organization
| Revenue | |
|---|---|
| Contributions, Grants, Gifts | $114,015 |
| Program Services | $0 |
| Membership Dues | $0 |
| Special Events | $0 |
| Other Revenue | $0 |
| Total Revenue | $154,050 |
| Expenses | |
|---|---|
| Program Services | $99,543 |
| Administration | $14,070 |
| Fundraising | $0 |
| Payments to Affiliates | $0 |
| Other Expenses | $0 |
| Total Expenses | $113,613 |
Balanced Veterans
Balance sheetFiscal Year: 2022
SOURCE: Self-reported by organization
| Assets | |
|---|---|
| Total Assets | $34,547 |
| Liabilities | |
|---|---|
| Total Liabilities | $3,173 |
| Fund balance (EOY) | |
|---|---|
| Net Assets | $34,027 |
Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Documents
Co-Founder and Chairman
Caleb Masoner
Caleb was raised in towns across Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama as a child. After feeling stuck, Caleb enlisted in the Alabama Army National Guard in 2006, at the age of 21. He deployed to Sharana, Afghanistan in 2009 and spent time driving MRAPs. Shortly after returning to the United States, Caleb went back to school to finish his bachelor’s degree at the University of North Alabama. After this, while still serving in the National Guard, Caleb began having debilitating back pain and struggled with Post Traumatic Stress. He was medically discharged in 2015 and soon found natural medicine was the best healer compared to pharmaceuticals. He founded Operation 1620 in 2018 beforing merging with Balanced Veterans to create the Balanced Veterans Network.
There are no officers, directors or key employees recorded for this organization
There are no highest paid employees recorded for this organization.
Balanced Veterans
Board of directorsas of 07/20/2023
Board of directors data
Caleb Masoner
Balanced Veterans Network
Term: 2023 - 2026
Nelson Sanchez
Board Member
Lynn Bornfriend
Board Member
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 ? 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:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Sexual orientation
Disability
Equity strategies
Last updated: 11/17/2020GuideStar 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 ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
- We analyze disaggregated data and root causes of race disparities that impact the organization's programs, portfolios, and the populations served.
- We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We disaggregate data by demographics, including race, in every policy and program measured.
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We use a vetting process to identify vendors and partners that share our commitment to race equity.
- We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- 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.
- We measure and then disaggregate job satisfaction and retention data by race, function, level, and/or team.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
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