I Need Support
Tell us what is happening and what kind of help you are looking for. We will respond with respect, privacy, and clear next steps.
Crisis and emergency information
True Grit Federation is not an emergency or crisis service. If someone is in immediate danger, call 911. For free 24/7 support, call or text 988 — the 988 Lifeline.
A Holistic Approach for a Soulful Problem.
Healing Veterans. Strengthening Families. Restoring Hope.
True Grit Federation helps veterans, adolescents, and families navigating PTSD, TBI/CTE, trauma, grief, and life-altering transitions find compassionate support, trusted resources, and a path forward.
Not sure where to begin? Start with a private support request. We’ll help you understand the next step.
Why families trust True Grit Federation
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501(c)(3) Nonprofit EIN 87-3590490
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Founded From Lived Experience Veteran and family-informed leadership
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Trauma-Informed Approach Dignity, choice, privacy, and no shame
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Community-Powered Built through donors, volunteers, and trusted connections
Choose Your Path
Start Where You Are
Whether you need support, are worried about someone you love, or want to help build a better path, there is a place to begin.
I’m Supporting Someone
Parents, spouses, caregivers, and friends do not have to figure everything out alone. Start a conversation and learn what options may fit.
I Want to Help
Give, volunteer, attend an event, or help connect TGF with aligned community resources.
What We Do Today
Support That Meets the Whole Person
True Grit Federation is a community-based nonprofit that helps people identify next steps, connect with appropriate resources, and find belonging through trauma-informed support and community programs. We are a bridge—not a hospital, therapist, health plan, or emergency service.
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Support Navigation & Warm Connections
Tell us what is happening. We help you sort through options, find trusted resources, and make warm handoffs to organizations that fit — not just hand you a phone list.
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Veteran, Adolescent & Family Support
Trauma-informed support for veterans navigating PTSD and TBI/CTE — traumatic brain injury and chronic traumatic encephalopathy — for adolescents carrying silent pain, and for the parents, spouses, and caregivers around them.
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Whole-Health Healing Markets & Community Events
Community gatherings and healing markets built around whole-person wellbeing — a low-pressure way to find connection, resources, and belonging.
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Grief, Legacy & Unsolicited Transition Family Support
Compassionate support for families navigating trauma-related loss. We use the language “Unsolicited Transition” to reduce shame and hold space for grief without judgment.
Why True Grit Exists
Behind Every Number Is a Person
Every person deserves more than one path toward healing.
Veterans, adolescents, and families carry wounds that can affect the body, brain, mind, spirit, relationships, and sense of purpose. These numbers explain the urgency—but they do not define anyone’s future.
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Adolescents
1 in 5
U.S. high school students reported seriously considering ending their life during the previous year. Nearly 1 in 10 reported an attempt.
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Veterans + PTSD
29%
Of Veterans who served in Operations Iraqi Freedom or Enduring Freedom were estimated to experience PTSD at some point in life.
Source: VA National Center for PTSD
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Texas Veterans
581
Veterans in Texas were lost to Unsolicited Transition (UT) in 2023. Nationally, 6,398 Veteran lives were lost—approximately 17.5 each day.
Sources: VA Texas Data Sheet and VA Annual Report, reporting 2023 data
The Care Gap
61%
Of Veterans lost to UT in 2023 had not received VA health care during the year they died or the preceding year. Trusted community connections and additional pathways to support matter.
These numbers are not destiny. True Grit Federation is building connection, compassionate navigation, nature-based community, and whole-person pathways so no one has to carry this alone.
TGF uses the term Unsolicited Transition (UT). Linked government sources retain their original public-health terminology.
A Clear, Private Process
What Happens After You Reach Out?
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Share What You Need
Complete the private support request with only the information needed to begin.
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We Review and Connect
A TGF team member reviews the request and reaches out to understand the situation.
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Build the Next Step Together
TGF helps identify practical options, community resources, referrals, or a warm connection where available.
Your request is handled with care and shared only with the TGF team members who help respond to it. True Grit Federation is not a HIPAA-covered entity; we protect your privacy as a matter of respect and practice.
Our Story
Born From the Gaps Families Should Never Have to Face Alone
True Grit Federation was founded in 2021 by Jenn Anderson, who serves as Founder and President, alongside her husband Joel, a founding board member and veteran of the 101st Airborne. Joel’s service included repeated blast exposure, and the years that followed brought realities many military families know: PTSD, traumatic brain injury (TBI), and a system of care that treated each struggle as a separate problem instead of seeing one whole person.
The Andersons searched for support that addressed body, mind, purpose, and family together — and kept finding fragments. Their family also carries the loss of Conner Dean Rice, whose legacy shapes the heart of this organization. Living through what TGF calls an Unsolicited Transition (UT) — a trauma-related loss no family ever chooses — showed them how alone families are left in the aftermath, and how much difference steady, judgment-free support can make.
True Grit Federation exists so other veterans, adolescents, and families do not have to navigate those gaps alone. Today, that means compassionate support navigation, trusted connections, and community. Tomorrow, it means a healing ranch where nature, animals, and belonging can do their quiet, patient work.
What We’re Building — Future Vision
A Healing Ranch Rooted in Nature and Belonging
The next chapter of True Grit Federation is a working healing ranch in Texas: a place where veterans, adolescents, and families can step out of crisis pace and into a steadier rhythm. Picture mornings spent caring for animals, hands in garden soil, shared meals made from real food, room to move and create, and quiet spaces where nobody has to perform being okay.
The concept plans include an open community barn, horses and other animals, working gardens, walking paths, and gathering spaces for whole-health community programming — the kind of steady, purposeful routines that help nervous systems settle and belonging take root.
- Animals, gardens, and nature
- Community and belonging
- Restorative spaces and purposeful routines
- Veteran, adolescent, and family support
The ranch is not open yet, and TGF does not provide clinical or medical care there or anywhere else. It is the vision our donors and volunteers are building with us — every gift, volunteer hour, and event moves it closer to open gates, and we will share progress openly along the way.
Who Carries the Mission
Meet Our Leadership
Jenn Anderson
Founder & President
Jenn leads True Grit Federation’s mission, programs, community relationships, and strategic direction. Her family’s lived experience navigating veteran trauma, TBI/CTE, grief, and loss shaped TGF’s commitment to helping people find a more connected path forward.
Joel Anderson
Founding Board Member | 101st Airborne Veteran
Joel brings lived experience with military service, repeated blast exposure, PTSD, and TBI. His perspective helps keep the mission grounded in the realities veterans and their families face beyond the battlefield.
Accountability
Trust and Transparency
True Grit Federation is a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Here is exactly who we are and how to verify it.
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Legal Status
501(c)(3) Nonprofit
A tax-exempt nonprofit organization. Donations are tax-deductible as allowed by law.
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EIN
87-3590490
Use this number to verify our status or for your tax records.
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Founded
2021
Based in Kemah, Texas: 1129 Hwy 146 Suite 74, Kemah, TX 77565.
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Founder & President
Jenn Anderson
Leads TGF’s mission, programs, and community relationships.
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Founding Board Member
Joel Anderson
101st Airborne veteran with lived TBI and PTSD experience.
- Contact 832-820-7991
Our commitment in our own words
“True Grit is built to be a safe, steady place — zero drama, zero discrimination, and no stigma around pain.”
Direct Answers
Questions Families Actually Ask
What does True Grit Federation do?
True Grit Federation is a community-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit in Kemah, Texas that helps veterans, adolescents, and families affected by PTSD, TBI/CTE, trauma, and grief. We provide support navigation, trusted resource connections, community events, and family support — and we are building a future healing ranch rooted in nature and belonging.
Who can request support?
Veterans, adolescents, parents, spouses, caregivers, and family members can all reach out. You do not need a diagnosis, a referral, or military paperwork to start a conversation — just tell us what is happening and what kind of help you are looking for.
Is True Grit Federation a medical or mental-health provider?
No. True Grit Federation is not a hospital, clinic, therapist, health plan, or emergency service. We are a support bridge: we help people identify next steps and connect with appropriate resources, including licensed care when that is what someone needs. If someone is in immediate danger, call 911. For 24/7 crisis support, call or text 988.
What happens after I submit a support request?
A True Grit Federation team member privately reviews your request, then reaches out to understand your situation. Together we identify practical options — community resources, referrals, or a warm connection to an appropriate organization — and agree on clear next steps.
What does “Unsolicited Transition” mean?
Unsolicited Transition (UT) is the compassionate language True Grit Federation uses for sudden, trauma-related loss that a family never chose. The term reduces shame and stigma so grieving families can talk about what happened and ask for support without judgment.
How can I volunteer or support the mission?
You can give monthly, make a one-time gift, volunteer at events and community projects, or attend a True Grit Federation event. Visit our Get Involved page to start, or contact us at truegritfederation@gmail.com or 832-820-7991.
Is True Grit Federation a 501(c)(3)?
Yes. True Grit Federation is a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 2021. Our EIN is 87-3590490, and our mailing address is 1129 Hwy 146 Suite 74, Kemah, TX 77565. Donations are tax-deductible as allowed by law.
Be Part of the Path
Two Ways to Carry the Mission
Every gift and every volunteer hour supports the work happening now — and builds the healing ranch to come.
Give
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Give Monthly
Steady support for navigation, community programs, events, and long-term development — including the future healing ranch.
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Make a One-Time Gift
Immediate support toward the mission’s current priorities.
Get Involved
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Volunteer
Help with events, outreach, community projects, and approved program needs.
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Attend an Event
Meet the community and see the mission in action at an upcoming program or event.
You Do Not Have to Carry This Alone
One private message is enough to begin. Tell us what is happening, and we will help you understand the next step — with respect, privacy, and no pressure.
In immediate danger? Call 911. For free 24/7 support, call or text 988.