THE READY ROOM
The purpose is to provide veterans with a safe, supportive community where creative expression becomes a bridge to healing, resilience, personal growth, and meaningful connection. Through art, music, writing, games, meditation, and other expressive practices, participants are empowered to explore their experiences, rediscover their strengths, and build hope for the future.
Vision Statement
We envision a community where every veteran has access to bridges that foster emotional wellness, strengthen relationships, reduce isolation, and inspire purpose beyond military service. We aspire to create environments where creativity becomes a lifelong source of healing, connection, and personal transformation.
Mission Statement
Our mission is to support the well-being of veterans by providing accessible, trauma-informed creative expressive wellness programs that integrate game-based activities, meditation, visual arts, music, and writing. We cultivate spaces where veterans can connect with others, develop healthy coping skills, express themselves authentically, and strengthen resilience through shared creative experiences.
Why call it The Ready Room?
The idea for the program name comes from military aviation history. Aviation squadrons have a specialized communal workspace for mission planning, briefing, monitoring and updating status of all aircraft and mission types. It also serves as a gathering place or a living room where crews can meet to pass information, conduct administrative paperwork, socialize, or when tragedy strikes remember life, service, and the ultimate sacrifice.
Squadron pilots in the Second World War considered the ready room to be a clubroom. A pilot who served during World War II stated that, in his personal view.
The funny thing about a ready room is that you get attached to the hole. As much as you are attached to the ship. It's more than sentiment. It's an urge for protection. The loneliest feeling in the whole of a carrier pilot's world is when he's at sea with the gas running low, and he can't see his carrier. You think of the ready room then, and the noisy guys who make it the most desirable place in the world. It's your office, you live in it, it is the big thing in your life. [...] You sweat and worry in it, and grouse and argue, and you get mad at it when you can't hear yourself speak because everyone is yelling at once, but you're deeply attached to the place.
— Tommy Booth, "Wildcats" Over Casablanca.
The Intent of The Ready Room
In military aviation, the Ready Room is far more than a briefing space. It is where crews prepare for missions, share information, solve problems, celebrate successes, and support one another through adversity. It is a place where lifelong bonds are formed and where the memories of those who made the ultimate sacrifice are honored. Above all, it is a place of trust, camaraderie, and belonging.
The Ready Room, a program of The Vir Fortis Foundation, carries that tradition forward by creating a welcoming community where veterans can continue to find connection, purpose, and support long after their military service has ended. Just as the military Ready Room prepared service members for the challenges of the mission, this Ready Room helps veterans navigate the challenges of life through healing, resilience, and personal growth.
Our program provides accessible, trauma-informed opportunities for veterans to engage in creative expression through visual arts, music, writing, tabletop and cooperative games, meditation, and other wellness practices. These activities are not simply hobbies; they are bridges that foster self-discovery, strengthen healthy coping skills, reduce isolation, and encourage authentic connection with others who understand the military experience.
The Ready Room is built on the belief that every veteran deserves a place where they are welcomed without judgment, valued for who they are, and empowered to write the next chapter of their lives. By cultivating community, creativity, and resilience, we honor the spirit of the military Ready Room while helping veterans build lives defined not only by their service, but by hope, purpose, and continued growth.
The Ready Room is not a replacement for the military Ready Room—it is its next chapter. It becomes the place veterans return to after the mission, where the focus shifts from mission readiness to life readiness.
EXPRESSIVE ARTS THERAPY
Expressive arts therapy combines different art forms like dance, music, and writing to help people understand their emotions.
It is effective for a wide range of mental health conditions, including anxiety, ADHD, and depression.
You don't need to be skilled in art to benefit from expressive arts therapy; it's about the process, not the product.
Core Modalities
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Art Therapy: Utilizing drawing, painting, and sculpting to visualize and process internal conflicts.
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Meditation Therapy: Using physical movement to connect with the body, manage stress, and release trauma.
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Music Therapy: Listening to or creating music to improve mood and regulate the nervous system.
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Game Therapy: Using tabletop games, role-playing games, cooperative games, strategy games, and other interactive activities to promote communication, emotional expression, problem-solving, resilience, social connection, and personal growth.
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Writing Therapy: Utilizing journaling or poetry to articulate and analyze thoughts.