WordTrails® For Veterans
Veterans face a profound reintegration crisis characterized by social isolation, mental health struggles, and difficulty rebuilding civilian community and purpose. With 200,000 transitioning annually, 60% struggling with adjustment, and proven links between isolation and suicide risk, solutions that facilitate trust-building, community connection, and meaningful engagement address a critical national priority affecting 43 million Americans—supported by substantial federal and nonprofit investment actively seeking effective, scalable interventions.
We work closely with a group called WayPoint Vets, founded by a dear friend Sarah Lee. We had powerful results in their spring 2025 ATLAS training program. (Video introduction to the ATLAS program below). WordTrails has proven to be a very effective tool to help Veterans and those they love become more able to reach across the divides that separate them.
Training for war involves, by necessity, a dampening of empathy. As a society it is time to find a path to reconnecting these men and women with their innate humanness, when they come home.
This is a gap WordTrails stands prepared to bridge.
Finding the words
“We haven’t been encouraged to use that kind of language. How can we be more exact in our language in order to communicate to another person the ways in which we feel?”
“Learning how to describe how you’re feeling? Wow. Just wow. That’s when the real magic happens.”
“If we can identify what’s going on inside ourselves, then we have a starting point.”
August 8, 2025
I am writing to share my personal experience with WordTrails, a game that has profoundly impacted my journey through loss, grief, and healing.
Though my late fiancé never had the chance to play this game, as he passed away before it was created, I know he would have appreciated its depth, its purpose, and its ability to bring people together on equal footing.
He was a career Army officer with multiple combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. He was a man whose service to his country was matched by his humility and deep sense of duty. He was not one to publicly pronounce his accomplishments but the legacy he left of service, sacrifice, and steadfast leadership is one worth sharing.
WordTrails does not demand a certain pace; it allows each person to engage on their own terms and in their own time. It levels the playing field, ensuring that no voice is louder than another. It creates space for thought, for reflection, and for gaining exactly what is personally relevant and real to each player.
He believed, as do I, that life is about choices and chances. To me, WordTrails is exactly that: a game that allows people the choice to engage at their own comfort level and the chance to connect in ways they may not have expected.
For military members and veterans – so many of whom carry unspoken stories and emotions – this game offers a rare opportunity to connect in a meaningful yet non-intrusive way.
I believe Word Trails has the potential to serve those who have served us. Whether in veteran support groups, military family programs, or simply among friends who have walked similar paths, this game creates an environment where understanding happens without words, where connection is felt rather than forced.
If there is an opportunity to introduce WordTrails to the veteran and military community, I would be honored to help facilitate that connection.
Respectfully
