Every year, thousands of first responders, veterans, and everyday people take a hard step: they ask for help. They complete treatment, detox programs, ceremonies, or other intensive healing experiences, and then they come home.
Whether shaped by military service, addiction, or early life trauma, many arrive carrying stories that never had room to be felt. The experience inside is often the same: a nervous system still on alert, needing space to slow down and settle.
Warrior cultures understood something we are now rediscovering: no one should move directly from an intense experience into ordinary life. The Lakota held sweat lodge ceremonies before a fighter rejoined the family. Dagara communities in West Africa held returning warriors so the weight of what happened was carried together, not alone. Modern military research calls this a "third location," deliberate time between the mission and home.
Today, that transition is missing for most people. They're returning to the same environment and the same stressors, right when the risk of falling back is highest, and the potential for lasting change is greatest.
The Living Lodge Foundation exists so that threshold is available to everyone who needs it. Cost should never be the reason someone misses that window.
How Scholarships Work
Foundation scholarships cover the cost of a residential aftercare stay at The Living Lodge, a private retreat in the redwoods of Mendocino County, California. In most cases, we cover the full cost of the program. In some cases, a partial scholarship is offered, based on individual circumstances identified through the application process.
What's Included:
2 to 4 weeks of structured residential support
One-on-one preparation and integration coaching
Peer support
Daily practices: breathwork, meditation, contemplative movement, yoga
Nourishing meals with herbal and adaptogenic support
Wilderness immersion and nature-based recovery
Post-stay check-ins and continued care coordination
Scholarship guests receive the same quality of care as every other guest. There is no separate track and no distinction made based on funding source. The Foundation pays The Living Lodge directly. Scholarship recipients pay nothing toward a full award.
Who Qualifies
First Responders
Law enforcement, firefighters, paramedics, EMTs, nurses, and dispatchers carrying the cumulative toll of chronic trauma exposure.
Financial Hardship
Anyone who has completed treatment or an intensive healing experience and cannot afford residential aftercare on their own.
Veterans
Any era, any branch, any role. You don't need a combat patch to qualify. Whether you served on the front lines or kept the operation running, your service counted, and so does what you carried home. Priority given to those navigating PTS, traumatic brain injury, or service-related addiction and mental health challenges.
There's no minimum income requirement and no required treatment type. If you've completed something intensive and need a structured place to land, we want to hear from you. All inquiries are confidential.
What Your Support Makes Possible
Every gift goes toward a guest’s stay at The Living Lodge: a quiet place to land, daily practices, coaching, and peer support, with nothing for the guest to pay.
For context, a full two-week stay costs $9,500 and a four-week stay costs $18,500. Gifts of every size, one-time or monthly, add up to stays.
How To Donate
Every dollar goes directly to program costs. Give online in a few minutes, or choose another option below.
Secure checkout by card, Apple Pay, or Google Pay. Your receipt arrives by email.
Other Ways to Give
Zelle
Send to: jevon@livinglodgefoundation.org | Memo: Living Lodge Foundation
Check
Payable to: Living Lodge Foundation | Mail to: PO Box 1172, Ukiah, CA 95482
Living Lodge Foundation is a 501(c)(3) public charity (EIN 42-2895762). Donations are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law. Online gifts receive an automatic receipt. For gifts by Zelle or check, an acknowledgment letter is available upon request.
How To Apply For a Scholarship
Applying starts with a conversation, not a form.
The easiest way to start is to schedule a call with Jevon Nally, Founder and President of the Living Lodge Foundation. Tell us where you are in your journey and what you’re looking for, and we’ll talk through eligibility, timing, and fit together. Prefer to reach out directly? Email or call anytime.
Email: jevon@livinglodgefoundation.org
Phone: (707) 485-2983
All inquiries are completely confidential. We'll never contact your employer, your unit, or anyone in your life without your explicit permission.
If cost has been the only thing standing between you and this kind of support, please reach out.