Check on your Veteran buddy this week

No Veteran should ever feel alone.

In the military, we learned to rely on each other. Now we’re out, and that hasn’t changed. We all need help sometimes, but do you know when your buddies need help?

Join the Veteran community to contact a buddy during Buddy Check Week, and encourage others to check in with their battle buddies or rekindle old friendships, too.

Reach out to your Veteran friend. Talk about your family, where you live now, how life has changed since you were back on base or on post together.

Buddy Check Week runs through Saturday, continuing the mission of building meaningful peer-to-peer connections, reducing isolation, and improving access to both VA and community-based resources.

Take the pledge to contact up to 10 Veterans.

Take the training to learn how to do a buddy check and recognize warning signs of a buddy in distress. The video walks you through what to say, how to listen, and how to connect someone to help when they need it most.

Find buddies. Join TogetherWeServed and RallyPoint to ask questions and share stories about connecting with peers, friends, families from service.

If you’ve lost touch with a Veteran friend, use this week as an excuse to reconnect. Encourage others in your sphere to reach out, too — whether through a phone call, visit, or text. Either one can open doors to healing, strengthen protective factors, and connect them to the care they need.

Here are some resources to share with Veterans (or for you to use, if you need them):

• Veterans Crisis Line: 988, then press 1 
• Military Services Crisis Line: 866-781-8010 
• Text: 838255 

Together, we can help ensure no Veteran feels alone, and that every Veteran knows support is just one conversation away. Take the Pledge to #TalkToTen