On the mountain
Ski Club pass purchases and related access costs helped veterans spend time on the snow and take part together.
Oregon 501(c)(3) public charity
Every Tributary Leads to Purpose.
We bring people, local partners, and community generosity together to make connection and opportunity more accessible.
Starting with veterans and families. Building toward broader access across Oregon.
Our mission
Access. Belonging. Purpose.
Our mission is to increase equitable access to care-adjacent support and structured wellness pathways for veterans, trauma survivors, and individuals denied support due to financial, physical, geographic, or insurance barriers.
We connect charitable support with local partners and opportunities for people to participate, build relationships, and find meaningful ways to contribute.
Why veterans first
Begin where relationships and experience can make a difference.
Our first year grew through veterans, families, and local partners in Central Oregon. Those relationships give us a practical place to listen, learn, and build consistent support.
For veterans navigating the transition from military life, trauma, or isolation, a shared activity can be a welcoming way to reconnect. Cost, distance, and physical access can make participation harder. Our starting point is to help remove those barriers while strengthening community around people and their families.
Our program
Public Pathways.
Public Pathways is Tributary Foundation’s sole program. It connects donors, campaign organizers, and local partners around specific charitable purposes.
Visit Public Pathways →Project Freedom: veterans and families
Project Freedom is a Pathway within the program: a restricted fund supporting veterans and their families. Campaigns can raise support for defined needs such as ski-pass access, family activities, or Homefront support.
A Pathway holds funds for a defined purpose. A campaign raises support for a specific effort within that purpose. A tributary is a contributing effort or partner that helps support flow toward the Pathway.
Campaign ideas are developed and reviewed before launch.
2025–June 2026
Our first year.
Our early work helped veterans and families share experiences through local businesses and activity partners.
Around the table
Pizza nights and family bowling offered opportunities to share a meal, bring family along, and get to know one another.
On the water
Lake days and kayak rentals created opportunities to explore, enjoy the outdoors, and connect through shared experiences.
First-year activities also included breathwork, movement, and fly-fishing experiences. Read our first-year activity report (PDF).
With gratitude
Thank you for showing up.
To the partners who supported our first year:
- Oregon Adaptive Sports
- Tumalo Creek and Kayak
- Beach Deli Hut
- Confluence Breath and Body Work
- Continuum Shadow Yoga
And to all of our advisors, volunteers, donors, and participants: thank you for your time, generosity, ideas, and willingness to take part. You helped make our first year possible.
The wider need
What published research tells us.
These national findings help explain our focus on connection and access. Each describes a different population and measure.
Post-9/11 military and veteran suicides
A 2021 Costs of War report estimated 30,177 suicides among post-9/11 service members and veterans, compared with 7,057 U.S. military deaths in post-9/11 war operations—more than four times as many.
Historical estimates reported in 2021; not a current cumulative total. Brown University · Costs of War, June 2021
Health worker burnout
In the 2022 Quality of Worklife Survey, 45.6% of health workers reported burnout often or very often. CDC highlights the importance of working conditions and organizational support.
Loneliness across communities
The Surgeon General’s 2023 advisory reported that approximately half of U.S. adults experienced loneliness in surveys it reviewed.
Traumatic brain injury
DOD recorded 533,519 service members with a first-time TBI diagnosis from 2000 through September 2025. Most were classified as mild TBI, or concussion; recovery and further care depend on the individual.
This military surveillance count includes injuries during everyday activities, training, and deployment. It is not a count of injuries attributed to toxic exposure. DOD / TBICoE · data through Q3 2025, report published February 2026
Exposure & neurological health
A study of former Camp Lejeune and Camp Pendleton service members found Parkinson’s disease in 0.33% and 0.21% of the groups with available health data, respectively. The adjusted odds were 70% higher in the Camp Lejeune group, where drinking water had been contaminated with solvents.
An observational association, not proof of an individual cause or a prediction for everyone exposed. Goldman and colleagues · JAMA Neurology, May 2023
Veteran housing stability
The January 2025 point-in-time count estimated 32,495 veterans experiencing homelessness nationwide—1.2% fewer than in January 2024 and 56.1% fewer than in 2010.
A one-night estimate, not an annual total or a percentage of all veterans. The decline reflects national progress alongside a continuing need for stable housing. VA Homeless Programs · January 2025 count
These reports describe broader needs; they do not measure the results of Foundation activities.
Who we hope to reach next
A broader circle of support.
As Public Pathways develops, our priorities include:
Indigenous tribes and communities
Explore opportunities shaped with Tribal leaders and Indigenous community partners, respecting sovereignty, cultural priorities, and locally defined needs.
The Indian Health Service’s disparities brief (2019) describes economic and social barriers affecting health and access.
Providers and frontline workers
Develop opportunities for connection, rest, and community support for people working in demanding care and service roles, alongside efforts to address workplace conditions.
Underserved individuals and families
Reach people facing financial hardship, rural distance, disability, limited transportation, insurance barriers, trauma, or social isolation that makes support harder to access.
These are future priorities. New efforts will depend on community input, local partner capacity, funding, and Foundation review.
Our roadmap
Build from what we learn.
Our next steps connect the experience of the first year with a clear way to fund and support future work.
Past milestones are dated. Future phases describe planned work rather than promised launch dates.
- 2025 · Foundation established
Begin in Central Oregon
Establish the Foundation and begin building relationships with veterans, families, and local partners.
- Through June 2026 · First-year activity
Learn through participation
Support ski access, family gatherings, and outdoor experiences; document activity and participant feedback.
- September 2026 · Current focus
Build Public Pathways
Bring Project Freedom online and complete giving-link and campaign setup, with clear purposes and reporting.
- Next · Planned
Launch focused campaigns
Develop partner-supported campaigns within Project Freedom, confirm budgets and destinations, and report how support is used.
- Future · Community-led expansion
Extend access
Explore Pathways for Indigenous communities, providers and frontline workers, and other underserved populations as relationships and resources develop.
Take part
Help the next opportunity take shape.
Explore a Pathway, develop a fundraising idea, or talk with us about becoming a local partner.