Merging Vets and Players

Merging Vets and Players (MVP) brings recently-transitioned veterans and former professional athletes together in a gym setting around a peer support curriculum. MVP provides these two unique populations, both of whom have recently removed a uniform, a new team to tackle transition together. MVP’s peer support intervention helps their participants identify challenges and connects them to community resources when they decide to seek help. MVP strengthens peer bonds and incentivizes participation by meeting in the comfort of gym setting. In the current climate when communities have enforced stay-at-home measures, MVP has pivoted their programing to virtual meetings and is continuing to work with participants to maintain their peer connection and physical health. This NFL-BWF Healthy Lifestyles and Creating Communities grant will allow MVP to maintain the positive aspects of their programming through the crisis. Once services move back into the gym, MVP will standardize the programming across disparate locations to ensure successful growth of the program to new implementation sites.