SPEAKER_01 0:00

I really found a community there of people who were had been in my shoes before. When I had talked about my PTSD or the things I was struggling with, they kind of laughed or snickered because they're like, hey man, you know, that guy right over there, he was right where you were six months ago.

SPEAKER_00 0:20

All right, everybody. Welcome to another episode of Connections That Matter, where we tell the stories from Northern Colorado's best networkers and find out how they have become successful through the connections that they've made. Today I have a veteran, a hero. We have Nick Dunnegan from Health for Heroes on the show. Nick, welcome. Yeah, thank you, Andrew. Appreciate it. Awesome, man. Well, Health for Heroes, uh, for people who aren't familiar with your organization, share a little bit about your mission.

SPEAKER_01 0:47

Yeah, so Health for Heroes is a nonprofit organization that empowers our veterans and first responders to take command of their health. So we're providing tools, resources, and opportunities for these folks to um really have at their disposal so they can live a longer, happier, healthier life.

SPEAKER_00 1:04

And uh your mission is inspired by a personal journey as well. So share a little bit about that and how health has really impacted your life. 100%.

SPEAKER_01 1:12

We could do a whole episode on that, I'm sure. But um the the short and skinny of it is um I served in the United States Army. I did a five-year um term, if you will, uh expecting to do 20 plus years. That was cut short after a rough deployment to Afghanistan, came back and started experiencing some really significant mental health issues based off of the things I experienced on the deployment. Um that led to an early transition out of the military uh and led to a rough path on the other side. I didn't have a healthy upbringing and I didn't really have a lot of health and wellness skills, if you will, or knowledge. Um, so when I went to the doc while I was still in the military, I went to the doc and tried to get some support, and the support that was given was a handful of prescriptions. I remember uh not wanting that type of help. Um so I left the clinic and did not fill the prescriptions. Uh, but I also didn't have any idea of what I should be doing instead. Um so therefore that really just kind of spiraled, things got worse, which led me to getting out a little bit early. But on the other side of that, after about a year and a half of struggling, trying to find my footing again, um, I found community in a veterans organization. I found my way back to the gym and into yoga and really just figured out along the way that these things by being active and having a good social community and and uh eating well, um, those things really helped me to manage the things that I was prescribed medications for instead. And so I really latched on to that. Um, and that's kind of where Health for Heroes comes from.

SPEAKER_00 2:55

So I imagine as a military guy, you're pretty fit, and then come out and there's a gap, and maybe there's a gap between what you know you're capable of or what you were doing, and then where you were. What was that moment where you didn't want to take the medication, but you didn't want to go on living uh the way it is, and you deciding to start? What was kind of the courage in that first moment?

SPEAKER_01 3:18

Yeah, I mean, I'd say that it was really a friend of mine, actually, who just, you know, who saw that I was struggling, a lot of isolation, a lot of self-medicating, and just not doing anything positive for myself. At the time when I was getting out of the military, I also went through bankruptcy and divorce and a foreclosure. So it was kind of, I was kind of a mess, let's just say. And and I had lost my identity and purpose that I had in the military. So I was I was struggling. A friend of mine noticed it and tried to get me off the couch, and we went to a rock climbing gym. Uh, and it just so happened that at that rock climbing gym there was a veterans group. Um, and that veterans group quickly noticed that I was also a veteran, even though I was standing off, not engaging. And they really impressed themselves on me. And um I really found, I really found a community there of people who were had been in my shoes before. When I had talked about my PTSD or the things I was struggling with, they kind of laughed or snickered because they're like, hey man, you know, that guy right over there, he was right where you were six months ago. But look at him now, and you know, hey, and I was there a couple of years ago. But, you know, by engaging in healthy activity with people who get it, you know, we've all been able to kind of come out of that a little bit. And that was the first time I felt hope that I didn't have to feel the way I was feeling for the rest of my life, because before that I definitely felt hopeless uh and felt like, you know, that the what mentally, physically, all these things that I was dealing with, it was never gonna get better. Um, and so engaging with that group was really the catalyst um to getting me healthy and active again. And then I kind of just took it into my own hands after that, once I realized it was working, um, and enrolled in school at CSU for health and exercise science. Uh, I've gotten a certified, or excuse me, I've gotten a personal trainer certification. I'm in school for health and wellness coaching. So that group, just finding that group was really a big springboard for where I'm at today and what what we're doing here at Health for Heroes.

SPEAKER_00 5:18

So it's uh, you know, one thing someone who just knew you a little bit better than most said, Hey Nick, I need to talk to you, or I need I need to get you plugged in. But um I think that's a good reminder of like you're watching this episode, like call the friend maybe you haven't called in a while, or notice people who are withdrawing. And what what what should I say? So maybe I got a friend who is not as vibrant as they used to be, or I know they're going through it, or they're dealing with something, I don't know what, but they're just withdrawing. What how do I how do I open that conversation?

SPEAKER_01 5:53

I mean, there's probably a thousand ways, but I would say if you're just being genuine and authentic because you care, um, just try to get them out for something. Hey, man, let's go for a walk, let's go for a hike, let's even if it's hey, let's grab a beer, whatever it is, just try to engage them. Um, and then really just don't try and force anything from there because they're already gonna be wound up about how they're feeling. Most of the folks know that they're not doing well when they're not. Sure. Um, but if you can just provide a space for them to open up a little bit, the best conversations and some of the strongest therapy I've been a part of and have witnessed is when two people, two good friends get together and are able to just talk openly. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 6:38

So what when people find your organization, what kind of things are they experiencing and what kind of things are they seeking? Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:45

So seeking uh when anyone joins Health for Heroes, there's a number of reasons why. Um, but the top reasons usually are looking for community of like-minded people. Um, they're looking for accountability, they're looking to get more active, uh, and they're looking to potentially lose weight um or um you know increase fitness in in some type of way. And so our programs are pretty much designed to be able to deliver that.

SPEAKER_00 7:13

And then with the community of veterans and first responders, um they're clumpy, right? I'm I'm not a veteran, so I don't I don't quite understand the way a veteran would, but like what is it within that um group that is so important to stick together?

SPEAKER_01 7:30

Yeah, I think it's the shared uh the shared purpose, if you will, or the the servant's heart. I mean, most folks that are joining this are giving so much of themselves. Um and I think that being around other people who, you know, regardless of your background or experiences, we know for a fact you're mission aligned, um, that you are a person that is more about others than about yourself. And I think that that just cuts through a lot of the BS and allows for quick friendships to form, even if you'd never met the person.

SPEAKER_00 8:03

So as a as a director, uh CEO of this, um obviously the mission is probably, you know, it's a it's it's a heavy, right? Like it's an important thing. Um but I guess talk to me about how do you how do you actually start a nonprofit for somebody who might be having a passion or having a journey, but you've actually created a nonprofit around it, you've created funding it. So what are those steps to put that into motion?

SPEAKER_01 8:26

Yeah, I mean, I would say, you know, first step is going to be the admin piece is you know coming up with, or rather, the vision piece. What is it we want to do? How do we want to serve? Who do we want to become? Um, once you have that stuff kind of nailed down, you definitely need to recruit a board of directors, um, basically some other like-minded folks who are in line with your mission and want to get behind it and support it. So having a good team around you is definitely important, um, but also required by state and federal laws. Yeah, sure. Um, so once you have your board of directors, you can file for your um 501c3 determination or whatever uh designation your nonprofit's going for. Um but filing for that can be kind of a handful with all the paperwork and making sure that you want to fill it out right the first time so it doesn't get kicked back, um, or your charitable status just gets declined out of the gate. So we hired someone actually plug for Kim Fisher. Okay, shout out Kim. Yeah, uh Vision Catalyst. She is an amazing person. She helps nonprofits get started, and so um she interviewed me, got all the information she needed, and filed our paperwork accordingly, and we got uh we got designated pretty quickly actually in about four months it took.

SPEAKER_00 9:46

So were you were you working somewhere else? Or did you uh doing this on the side until it became more full-time?

SPEAKER_01 9:52

Or yeah, so um I got out of the army in 2014, and pretty much after that first year and a half, I got heavily involved in volunteering with veterans' organizations, all nonprofits. And so um I got to be on the receiving end of a lot of what nonprofits are doing and what they're capable of. Um and I also got to see a lot of behind the scenes as I worked my way up in leadership positions in those organizations. Um my last um, the last organization I worked for was predominantly focused on veterans, and I had always um heard from other veterans in the orgs that I was a part of. Uh and these are vets that were also first responders, and I remember them saying, Man, I'm so glad I'm a veteran too, because if I was just a first responder, I would not have access to half of the resources that are out there for veterans. And so that always stuck with me. And when I had an opportunity to uh found an organization, I knew for a fact we wanted to include the very deserving uh group of first responders as well. And a lot of veterans become first responders, so there's a lot of overlap, and then of course the shared mindset of service and purpose uh and things like that. So it was a natural fit to bring both groups in.

SPEAKER_00 11:04

We'll have a have a bigger tent uh to bring people together. Absolutely. Well, and uh as far as nonprofits, the uh there's there's a lot in the veteran space, and most of them, maybe not most of them, um, but they they focus on like kind of the people who are down and out. And you've made a very conscious decision to focus on the health and and vibrancy. Um where was that decision made and and why do you market you yourself the way you do?

SPEAKER_01 11:32

Yeah, I mean, again, coming up through a lot of those other veterans organizations um and attending a lot of veterans resource fairs over the years. Um, I, as a veteran who was broken at one time or even still a little now today, um, I never really appreciated walking through and seeing all the organizations um essentially marketing us as broken and needing help. Um, it was always the picture of the veteran crying in the corner or you know, struggling. You could you could easily tell through the imagery that the veteran was struggling. And that's true. We do struggle. Everybody does. But it doesn't make me feel empowered to do anything about it when we're displayed that way. And so, you know, and and also it's a very strong and resilient group of people. So they may be like that person in the picture one day, but with a little bit of support and empowerment and community, uh, they don't have to be that. They can be more like the imagery that we're portraying, which is strong, resilient, um, and capable. So it was it was an important piece, and I'm really glad you asked, it was an important piece to to do that, to make that step. However, it uh is not as easy of a sell in terms of uh funding and things like that, because what we're selling and what we're showing is that these folks are healthy and well, uh, as opposed to, hey, they are broken and they need your help now. Yeah. So it's something that um although we're gonna continue to stick to our guns because that is how we want to be portrayed, um, it it's not always that helpful to in terms of in terms of uh fundraising.

SPEAKER_00 13:11

Aaron Powell Well, and still it's be able to uh I would imagine two audiences, right? It's your it's your messaging to your people that you're serving, but you're also trying to get donations and business sponsorships and and people to open up their wallets and uh volunteer. 100%. How do you manage the dual messaging?

SPEAKER_01 13:29

Yeah, I mean we we pretty much just have the one message, actually. Um and so we want to portray when we're messaging to our to our members, to our heroes, we want to portray them as strong. We don't want to we don't ever really use the word help. It's actually on our list of no-nos. We don't help you because they don't want help. Yeah. So we empower, we support. Um and that's a big that's a big piece as well. But you know, that messaging translates over to the donor field and the local business community of of supporters, but we're also working on ways to portray that need a little more because if I was if I was trying to prevent veteran homelessness or something like that, hey, take a veteran off the street, easy sell. Who wouldn't want to do that, right? Um, but ours is ours is a little bit different. But what we're what we're doing through our programming is preventing that person from ever needing homeless services because they're getting their mind right, they're getting their body right, they have a purpose, they have a mission. Um, and so it's really upstream prevention, is what we're working towards.

SPEAKER_00 14:36

So let's talk about networking as a nonprofit. Any um any tips or different things that you network as a nonprofit that maybe it would be different than a uh traditional small business owner?

SPEAKER_01 14:48

Yeah, I think that you know, based on a lot of what I've I've had in our interactions as well, what I've learned through other networking uh events um typically these business owners are looking to exchange business for sure. So they're looking for referrals. We want to refer back and forth, and that makes absolute sense. For us, we're looking to provide an opportunity for that business to get involved with our mission. And so I would think that would be the biggest difference is that we don't necessarily have referrals to make other than, you know, come bringing businesses into our community and allowing that business to exchange itself because we have over 40 businesses that are a part of our network.

SPEAKER_00 15:27

Well, I was gonna ask you about that because I think it's brilliant the way that you've created partnerships and and built a community within those partnerships, but you know, expand on the business community uh part of Health for Heroes. And then uh I was just at uh uh an event where I ate a hot dog and got to meet a bunch of them, but but you're building, you're building a community, you're creating some networking opportunities within your donor list.

SPEAKER_01 15:51

Yeah, absolutely. So we realized about three or four years ago that we didn't necessarily have a great mechanism for uh for businesses to get involved with our organization outside of a one-time event sponsorship per se. Um we had partnerships with health and wellness companies. Uh, and as part of those partnerships, they offer discounts to our members to really reduce the cost of taking care of yourself. Um but if you weren't a health and wellness company, we really didn't have a mechanism. And so I did some research in the local area and talked with some of our partners and supporters and things like that. And we came up with it's it's not a new idea by any means, but we came up with the business membership model. Uh and by allowing an HVAC company, a roofing company, a realtor to um to purchase a membership, we're really allowing them to come in and showcase their support for this group of people. I like to say we provide authenticity. When a company says they support veterans and first responders, if they're doing it through Health for Heroes, it should be very easy for people to see how that impact is being made. How do you communicate the impact that they're making? Yeah, so every year we do an impact report. We look back on the previous year and compile a ton of testimonies and statistics and all of that great stuff that shows our donors where their money has been spent over the last year and the impact that was created. Um, we're also better business bureau accredited charities, so we meet the highest standards of transparency and financial management, which is extremely important in our world, but really in anybody's world.

SPEAKER_00 17:25

Sure.

SPEAKER_01 17:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:26

And uh where's your footprint? How how where if I'm a hero, how far south can I be as still part of your community?

SPEAKER_01 17:33

Yeah, so things are changing a little bit right now for us as we're entering into our sixth year of service here this September. Um, our team right now is actively looking at figuring out how it is we can best serve for the next five to 10 and 15 years and beyond. Um and so we're actually really excited about launching some online programming. Nice. That way we can serve any hero anywhere. Um we've taken some of our programming that was once delivered in person only and expanded that to be able to be delivered online and really at their leisure, if you will. Um they can download, you know, they can download some items, some help, helpful resources and things like that uh and utilize those, or they can take part in our program live online, and those are you know, usually at scheduled times or whatnot. But the the flexibility, um especially in the first responder arena, yeah. A lot of folks are just unable to make it to in-person things based on shift work. And truthfully, when they're off shift, they want to be with their family. So the online piece, I think, is really gonna open up a lot for us, and it really it allows us to expand our footprint nationwide. Yeah, right on. Well, how how can people find out about the online stuff? Yeah, so right now it's a little bit uh under wrapped. Okay, all right. Um, but to be coming soon. Yeah, coming soon. Um, over the next basically the rest of the year, we're gonna keep you know, one thing we do, and it's it's one of our core values is growth. We're we're growth-oriented. We are always looking at what it is we're doing, how can we do it better? And so right now we're actively doing that, and we expect to roll these programs out next year.

SPEAKER_00 19:10

Okay, right on. Well, we're wishing you the best of luck. But I think about Northern Colorado, because you know, uh well, the first responders they're everywhere. But like as far as veteran and military, big, big military base in Cheyenne, uh, Denver, Colorado Springs, but not as much in northern Colorado. Does that impact the community people feel if they're be a little bit more removed from the um active duty?

SPEAKER_01 19:34

Well, great, great question. So I I think that we'll always want to have a physical presence in in some of the areas or a lot of the areas that we might be able to get into. Um, the online presence allows us to just reach a little further um in in between a lot of that stuff. But in terms of up here, I mean, don't quote me on this, but last time I checked, there's a hundred and forty or fifty something thousand veterans in just Larimer County. Wow. It does not include their families, and that does not include first responders. So we're not short of people to serve. Yeah. Um, and especially being close to Cheyenne, we have quite a few people that come down for our events and activities as well. Um, but to answer your original question, I mean, our physical physical footprint is pretty much Cheyenne, Wellington area down to Longmont area.

SPEAKER_00 20:25

Okay. Yeah, right on. Well, if somebody wants to come to the next event, come to get plugged in, like what's the best way to find out about what they can get involved in?

SPEAKER_01 20:34

Absolutely. Our website is the best place to get information. We keep that very up to date. So that's healthforheroes.org. Um, and anything, anything, any of our programs and upcoming events and volunteer opportunities, all that is going to be listed on the website. Right on.

SPEAKER_00 20:49

Well, Nick, thanks so much for coming on the show. It's been awesome to have you a part of my community. Uh, but we'll be continuing to collaborate. And then uh you're one of our NIAX members. So uh he's on the list. And if people are interested in being a uh business that's partnering and supporting your nonprofit, they can find out their availability there. Absolutely. Well, cool, Nick. Thanks so much for coming on the show. We'll see you around Northern Colorado. Thank you so much. Hey all, thanks for watching. I love networking and building relationships with other Northern Colorado business leaders. So if you want to come meet some of these podcast guests, meet me or meet some other amazing entrepreneurs in Northern Colorado. I would love to have you attend one of our next events. Uh, go in the podcast description. There's a way so you can see our upcoming schedule. And maybe you could be a future podcast guest as well. Thanks.