Tune into the Hallmark Channel this evening for the premier of "Amy Grant's Tennessee Christmas" starring Challenge America's honorary co-founders Amy Grant and Vince Gill!

Today is #GivingTuesday! #GivingTuesday is a global giving movement that has been built by individuals, families, organizations, businesses, and communities in countries around the world. Millions of people have come together to support and champion the causes they believe in and the communities in which they live.

Shopping on AmazonSmile can help us connect Veterans, service members, and their families to resources and solutions that build community and give purpose to their lives.

Every year on November 11th, we take the time to recognize, honor, and thank the women and men who served in the United States Armed Forces.

As part of our budding partnership to explore ways of addressing the needs of injured Veterans, Cleveland Clinic Innovations invited Challenge America staff members to take part in two exciting events in October.

This fall marked a busy season of music and healing through our Veteran Music Therapy Retreats in both Cleveland and Nashville. We were excited to return to Cleveland for our second annual Music Therapy Retreat with the support of our good friends at NEOPAT and the Cleveland VA. In Nashville, we hosted our first training clinic for certified music therapists, which coincided with a Veteran Music Therapy Retreat.

This Spring has been a busy one here at Challenge America. We're so excited to share with you all the amazing adventures we've had. And most importantly, we want to thank you for being a part of this vibrant community showing our nation's heroes that we care and making a lasting, direct impact on their lives.

The 2018 Makers For Heroes make-a-thon showed that miracles really can happen when you combine technology, talent, compassion, and a common purpose of helping those who sacrificed and lost so much on our behalf.

Saturday, November 11th is Veterans Day, the one day of the year when we pause to recognize and honor the men and women in uniform and out who make up our military community. While most people tend to think this day is about parades and football and maybe even a welcome day off, this is really our collective opportunity to reflect on the bravery and sacrifice that are often required to preserve peace and prosperity, at home and abroad. 

This is a busy and exciting week for Challenge America. We just returned from our Music Therapy Retreat in Nashville, where we hosted another emotional and successful event on Vince Gill and Amy Grant’s farm.

The Robert + Toni Bader Charitable Foundation has awarded Challenge America with $20,000 to dedicate to our Music Therapy Program. The donation will be given over the course of two years, and will help us expand our Music Therapy Retreat Program to new cities, so we can reach even more military service members and Veterans.

This week, the Challenge America team travelled to Cleveland to meet with our good friends at The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Foremost on the agenda were our plans for hosting the very first Challenge America Music Therapy Retreat in Northern Ohio, from October 19-22, 2017.

This week, we are putting the spotlight on artist and Veteran, Dani Figueroa. Dani minored in fine art in college, and joined the military after 9/11.

The Department of Defense is clear-eyed about the challenges climate change poses.

Our local TV station, Aspen 82, was kind enough to feature the National Exhibit of Veteran Art in its Saturday morning show, The Lift. Attached is a recording of this segment, which presents our summer music intern, Stephanie Boshea, in her debut TV appearance. We are proud of Stephanie and thrilled to have this opportunity to share the news about our exhibit. 

Challenge America is excited to announce the launch of a new music therapy program in Northeast Ohio! This program is made possible with the generous support of our local non-profit partner, Northeast Ohio Patriots (NEOPAT), The Lodge at Geneva on the Lake, and The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. 

When it comes to running a business, what does an M.B.A. do for you that a doctorate in philosophy can’t do better? According to this author, not much.

According to a recent report, between 9.3 and 33 percent of women report experiencing an attempted or completed rape during their military service. And reports of sexual assault in the military are on the rise. Between 2007 and 2013, these reports increased 88 percent. Indeed, the VA has estimated that one in five women who use its health-care program screen positive for military sexual trauma.

We are officially 7 days out from the opening night of the exhibit! We can’t wait to share all of the beautiful submissions with you in Aspen. Until then, we have our 4th #ChallengeArt17 Artist Spotlight: Jennifer Doherty. 

Palisade, Colorado VA administrators from Grand Junction and the Denver Regional Office organized a Town Hall Meeting to explain their plans for improving service delivery and take questions from the 60 or so area Veterans who assembled in the main meeting hall of American Legion Post 50.