Registration now open for 2026 Climb for Heroes - Click here!
Registration now open for 2026 Climb for Heroes - Click here!
The Heroes Project
From hospital bed to
summit.
We empower veterans to rise, rebuild, and rediscover purpose. Our mission is to give injured veterans a renewed sense of achievement and belonging after service.
Our Mission
Nature does what hospitals can’t. From Everest to Denali to the peaks of California, our veterans push past limits and prove the impossible is possible through the healing power of the outdoors.
Stand With ThemOur Heroes
Every gift has a name attached. We take one veteran at a time, deliberately, because every climb deserves undivided focus, every climb, every breakthrough, every moment honored with the attention it’s earned.
US Marines — EVEREST
On May 19, 2016, Charlie became first combat-wounded veteran to reach the top of Mt. Everest.
US MARINES — Ojos Del Salado
The highest active volcano on earth, summited by a Marine who left both legs to an IED in Afghanistan. Ojos del Salado, 2018.
US MARINES — Kilimanjaro
Lost both legs above the knee to an IED in Sangin. Summited Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania with prosthetics, the first double amputee to do it.
We’re building California’s first-ever year‑round retreat center for injured veterans nationwide, high on Mt. Baldy, off the grid, where nature, brotherhood, and the mountain do the healing no city ever could. We believe in the raw power of the outdoors, which is why the VRC is far from noise, lights, and distractions, giving our heroes a place to rebuild. From vision to reality, it starts here.
Read MoreWhy It Works
The hospital handles the body. We handle the return, the strength, the mindset, the fire to step back into life with purpose.
01
Pillar One
Months of real climbing preparation at Equinox, in the gym, and on the trails in Mt.Baldy, CA. The body remembers what it knew.
02
Pillar Two
Preparation for altitude, cold, fatigue, fear. The clarity that comes when the next step is the only step that matters.
03
Pillar Three
Nature does what hospitals can't. Air, stone, weather, and silence, medicine no prescription can write.
04
Pillar Four
A team again. Ropes tied to shared purpose, the brotherhood and sisterhood the uniform once provided.
THE IMPACT
22+
Lost to suicide today
Post‑9/11 veterans face suicide rates far higher than the general population especially those with traumatic brain injury.
29%
Living with PTSD
Between 15% and 29% of post‑9/11 veterans experience PTSD, making it the most affected generation of service members.
1700
Post‑9/11 Amputees
More than 1,700 U.S. service members have sustained major limb loss since 2001, each rebuilding strength, purpose, and identity.
Full Name
Role
Ways to Give
You’re not a charity‑giver, you’re a stakeholder in a veteran’s comeback. Monthly investors fuel the climbs and help build a retreat center that will serve injured veterans nationwide. Every dollar becomes part of someone’s return to strength, purpose, and possibility.
Bronze Investor
$10
/ month
THP beanie + T-shirt
3-month minimum commitment
Silver Investor
$20
/ month
THP sweatshirt + trucker hat
3-month minimum commitment
Gold Investor
Most Impact
$50
/ month
THP sweatshirt + Chrome Hearts trucker hat
Helps build the Veteran Retreat Center
6-month minimum commitment
OR
A $250 gift earns you a custom‑engraved wooden plaque mounted on the VRC water tower, joining the community of supporters who helped build this space for our wounded veterans.
Add my name to the tower
FAQ
Our audience responds to straight talk. If you have a question we haven't answered, we'd like to hear it.
Get in touch →
89¢ of every dollar goes directly to programs: training, expeditions, gear, and hero support. We publish our financials with Charity Navigator and hold GuideStar Platinum transparency — you can see exactly where it goes.
Yes. We take one veteran at a time, deliberately. Monthly gifts, yours plus every other investor's, add up to one fully trained veteran standing on a summit. Every dollar has a name attached.
Reach out directly through our contact page. We'll talk with you about where you're at, body, mind, and timing, and map a path that meets you there. No paperwork gauntlet.
California's first year-round retreat center for injured veterans, planned for Mt. Baldy. A $6M capital project that gives our heroes a permanent home for the training, therapy, and community the mission depends on.
— USMC CPL. Kionte Storey
The Field Report
Updates from the Veteran Retreat Center, our annual event Climb for Heroes, our upcoming documentary, and new hero profiles. No hype. No noise. Just real stories, real progress.
From hospital bed to summit. We take injured U.S. military veterans from recovery to the mountain — and honor every step between.
