Annual Veteran Service Organization Summit
Hosted by Swim With A Mission

Soon after starting Swim With A Mission, we realized that our mission to strengthen the Veteran community was more than just raising money.  We began to ask important questions about how a Veteran finds services and more importantly, what happens when that service organization cannot provide all of the help that they need.  As we learned, Veteran service organizations (VSO) in New Hampshire tend to operate in silos. Many did not know nearly enough about each-other and often did not know where and how to get the Veteran the services they needed.  With that said, in 2021, SWAM hosted the first annual VSO Summit, where they invited all the local Veteran service organizations together for a day to introduce, collaborate, and learn to effectively work together on a mission for our Veterans.  For three years, SWAM has now hosted these important summits which have successfully brought these great organizations together to discuss the most important needs of the Veteran community. 

Through these summits, we focus on obstacles facing our Veteran community, including  the war on mental health and an increasing suicide rate amongst Veterans.  Since the start of the war on terror, 95 of our brave service men and women from New Hampshire, were lost down range in service to our country.  At the same time, the statistics show that we are losing nearly ten times that many Veterans who return home safely and take their own lives.  This is a statistic that this group refuses to ignore so efforts are underway to reduce the suicide rate amongst  Veterans.

Other topics discussed include housing, the need for service dogs, collaboration amongst the organization and much more. The VA and the Department of Veteran and Military Services in NH have participated in the discussion with the rest of the Veteran service and support community to work on these issues. Governor Sununu has also attended these summits and has been recognized for his actions to support New Hampshire’s Veterans, including granting Cares Act money to help VSOs survive COVID, as well as providing funding to create a Veterans campus in Franklin that is being implemented by Easter Seals.

SWAM will proudly host our 4th Summit on April 16, 2024 at the Currier Museum. Please use the registration link below to join.