Community Integration Team
The Community Integration Team at Vets Recover is the arm of the organization that takes “whole person healing” out of the clinic and into real life, building the social, emotional, and community supports that make recovery stick for veterans, first responders, and families.
What the Community Integration Team does
Facilitates peer support services, recovery activities, and community events so veterans and families have sober, healthy spaces to connect and belong.
Builds partnerships and referral networks (courts, universities, fire/EMS, VA, nonprofits, faith and civic groups) to remove barriers and link people to housing, employment, education, and benefits.
Provides training like Mental Health First Aid and Community NARCAN Training and other education to veterans, families, and community stakeholders to grow a culture that recognizes warning signs and knows how to respond.
Uses professional veteran peer support specialists who walk alongside clients, model recovery, and help them plug into local resources and substance‑free activities.
Helping to Overcome (H20)
Helping 2 Overcome (H2O) is an adventure‑based peer support program that uses outdoor recreation—golf, scuba, kayaking, hiking, fishing, skydiving, marriage and veteran retreats, and more—to fight isolation, substance use, anxiety, and suicidal thinking while building peer accountability and family‑inclusive healing.
Across these programs, the Community Integration Team offers veteran peer support, family‑friendly events, aftercare integration, and community partnerships so that recovery is not just something that happens in a clinic, but a lifestyle lived out in community. Our Programs create safe, substance‑free spaces where veterans, service members, first responders, and their families can reconnect, push personal limits, and practice coping skills in real‑world settings, reinforcing what they’re working on in outpatient or inpatient care
Rooted in Recovery
Rooted in Recovery uses a therapeutic garden (including ADA‑accessible beds) to help participants grow food and plants, building responsibility, routine, and self‑efficacy; tending the garden becomes a living metaphor for nurturing recovery—showing that with time, consistency, and support, growth happens.
How it fights substance use, suicide, and mental/physical health issues
Substance use: Community integration adds peer support, recovery‑oriented activities, and structured follow‑up after treatment so people don’t go back to isolation and high‑risk environments, which lowers relapse risk.
Suicide and mental health: By reducing isolation, increasing a sense of belonging, and keeping veterans connected to peers and services, the team supports stabilization from PTSD, depression, and co‑occurring disorders.
Physical health: Connection to primary care, movement‑friendly community activities, and help with basics like transportation make it more likely that veterans actually attend appointments and follow treatment plans.
How this supports whole‑person healing with Vets Recover’s clinical services
Outpatient Primary Care
- Screens and treats physical health, mental health, and substance use in clinic
- Community Integration extends the care plan into home and community
- Peer support reinforces goals, appointments, and healthy routines
Outpatient mental health
- Provides evidence‑based therapy, psychiatric care, and relapse‑prevention tools
- Community Integration adds lived‑experience peer support and groups
- Activities let veterans practice coping and communication skills in real life
Detox & residential
- Offers medically monitored detox and trauma‑informed residential treatment
- Community Integration provides warm hand‑offs into aftercare and community
- Creates a recovery network to reduce relapse, overdose, and isolation
Community Integration Team
- Delivers peer support, Helping 2 Overcome adventure‑based activities, and Rooted in Recovery garden program
- Builds partnerships, events, and family‑friendly spaces that support sobriety and connection
- Knits all levels of care together into a long‑term, whole‑person recovery pathway
By addressing substance use, suicide risk, mental health, physical health, relationships, and spiritual/meaning needs together, these programs operationalize Vets Recover’s model of “whole person healing” and ensure that veterans and families never have to heal alone.
