Dear Friends of the National Center for Healthy Veterans (NCHV) at Valor Farm,
New Year Greetings!
- Looking Back — we are grateful (to you and to so many others in 2025)
- Looking Forward — we are expectant, that 2026 will be even “more abundant beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that is working within us.” (Ephesians 3:20)
- Looking Up — we are thankful to God for His favor each and every day, each and every year.
At the turn of a New Year, our thoughts often turn to transitions, resolutions, and themes. The prevailing 2026 theme at NCHV is Momentum, characterizing 1) the rapid refinement of our Patriot Care capabilities, 2) the expanded capacity represented by Villages 2 and 3, 3) the rapidly increasing sustainability resulting from maturation of our farming and ranching endeavors, and 4) increasing recognition of NCHV as a national thought leader and prototype for comprehensive care for at-risk Veterans.
This newsletter will “put a face” on this momentum theme. This month’s Meet the Team is pretty exciting as it depicts our first spinoff platform headed by Virginia Dial at Blue Grass Veterans Ranch in KY. Diving Deeper specifically addresses a “Word of the Year” (theme) exercise which we have conducted with NCHV Staff and residential Patriots. You may also benefit from this exercise. As always, the Plays of the Day and In The Media sections convey the many evidences of life change which occur on a daily basis at NCHV. As always, we encourage that Prayer is God’s artillery to change us and to turn obstacles into opportunities for growth and contribution.
Colossians 1:9-12 (NASB) is our prayer for self and others as we enter 2026:
“9 For this reason we also, since the day we heard about it, have not ceased praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all perseverance and patience; joyously 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.”
We also pray that God will grant many of you “the joy of generous giving” in this coming year. May you help us drive toward greater excellence in 2026. May you help us achieve closure on existing infrastructure projects. May you help us “Raise A Barn” to complete our Fire Relief Campaign. May we together capitalize upon the God-given Momentum that we are currently experiencing.
We are extremely thankful for your encouragement, volunteerism, gifts-in-kind, financial donations, referrals of Veterans in need, and your prayers. Together we can truly “Return Healthy Veterans to America.”
Blessings and gratitude to each of you,
Robert F. Dees
Major General, U.S. Army, Retired
President and CEO, National Center for Healthy Veterans
YOUR encouragement and generosity
have made these amazing things happen at Valor Farm. We certainly welcome and need your further support on behalf of Returning Healthy Veterans to America!
Join our Healthy Veterans Community!
Plays of the Day
Spirit of Virginia Arena Earns its Spurs – Since its completion, the Spirit of Virginia Arena has quickly become a cornerstone of life at Valor Farm. In just a short time, it has already hosted the Day After ribbon cutting, the Jim Tennant Memorial Service, a roping clinic, our Veterans Day celebration, the Murph Challenge and Luke Rob Concert, and the Ranch Horse Series Preview.
The arena has proven to be more than a structure. It is a gathering place, a training ground, and a space where community, healing, and purpose continue to take shape. With the Ranch Show Series and recurring Open Arena opportunities launching this month and continuing in the months ahead, the Spirit of Virginia Arena is only just getting started.
A Community That Shows Up – As the year came to a close, we were reminded once again that this mission is sustained by a remarkable community of supporters. Throughout the final weeks of the year, many donors stepped forward with generosity, ensuring that the work at Valor Farm continues strong into the year ahead.
These gifts represent more than financial support. They reflect trust, shared purpose, and a commitment to seeing Veterans find healing, stability, and renewed direction. We are deeply grateful for every individual and partner who chose to invest in this mission and stand with us as we move forward together.
Brick Campaign – As the year came to a close, we were reminded once again that this mission is sustained by a remarkable community of supporters. Throughout the final weeks of the year, many donors stepped forward with generosity, ensuring that the work at Valor Farm continues strong into the year ahead.
These gifts represent more than financial support. They reflect trust, shared purpose, and a commitment to seeing Veterans find healing, stability, and renewed direction. We are deeply grateful for every individual and partner who chose to invest in this mission and stand with us as we move forward together.
Meet The Team
Virginia Dial – Bluegrass Veterans Ranch
Welcome to the heart of Connect Community Village and Bluegrass Veterans Ranch. We are a veteran centered community dedicated to our mission of creating a safe and stable transitional environment where our veterans can not only heal, but learn to thrive. Established in 2022, as a Kentucky based, 501c3, we began with 5 original Board members, locating and purchasing 20 beautiful acres of farm land in the Northern part of Pulaski County, Kentucky in 2023, and receiving state allocated funding in 2024 to begin work on the infrastructure of what is now known as Bluegrass Veterans Ranch. Bluegrass Veterans Ranch is committed to addressing the critical challenges our veterans face once they have completed their military service and return home. Those challenges may include struggling with mental health issues, financial hardships, job opportunities and qualifications, housing security, and re-establishing relationships within their family and community.
Bluegrass Veterans Ranch will offer faith based programs, resources and opportunities, including: a safe housing environment, agricultural and animal therapy, life skill resources, vocational training, Veteran Peer Support, community involvement, and introduction to the arts.
Every program is designed to promote interaction, teamwork, and a strong sense of belonging.
Our veterans are an untapped resource for our country, one that we have a responsibility to support and nurture, with the conviction that no veteran should be left behind.
If all of this sounds vaguely familiar, it is because we have followed the success of The National Center for Healthy Veterans since 2023 when a team of two of our Board of Directors traveled to Alta Vista, Virginia to see firsthand the programs and resources that were changing the lives of our veterans. We were so very impressed that we have chosen to model much of Bluegrass Veterans Ranch’s training programs, veteran’s resources, and even the construction of the living environment after The National Center for Healthy Veterans. We are honored to partner with NCHV and look forward to mirror their success in the future. Our endgame is to successfully graduate our veterans from a transitional community to a life where they will again be “all that they can be.”
Meet the Board: Virginia Dial, Rick Sexton, Tyler Barrett, Jim Dick, Dylan Gorski, Frank Genetti, Randy Roberts
Diving Deeper
Word of the Year
by Bob Dees
Dear National Center for Healthy Veterans Family & Friends-
Wow! 2026! Time flies when you are having fun! More seriously — I suspect we are all grateful for the blessing, comfort, joy, and wisdom God has provided in 2025. And we have Good NEWS as we look ahead – God’s reservoir of these priceless resources will not run dry!
May each of you have a Blessed NEW Year. As a reminder,
- God is doing a NEW thing among us (Isa 43:19)
- We are NEW creations in Christ (2 Corin 5:17)
- Jesus challenges us to put NEW wine into NEW wineskins (Mark 2:22)
- Christ is a NEW and living way (Hebrews 10:20)
- Christ makes all things NEW (Rev 21:5)
- Christ gives us a NEW commandment of love (John 13:34)
- Sing to Him a NEW song (Psalm 33:3)
- And many more examples of NEW in God’s living WORD.
May we all “sing a NEW song” in the coming year as we love and support one another.
For this Diving Deeper, I pass along a useful exercise for the New Year — we have done this with our staff and with our Patriots living at Valor Farm. Some of the words they individually selected for themselves were: Hope, Faith, Sober, Endurance, Resilience, Reckoning, Transformation, Love, Discernment, Courage, Reunification, Believe, Straighten Up, and Look Up!
As an example, my word for 2026 is “Look Up!”, drawing from Isaiah 60:4 (Executive Summary- “Lift up your eyes round about and see”). For me, this means More Looking UP — More PRAYER, Less Scrolling; More WORD, Less TV; More DISCIPLINE, Less Laxity; etc. This is related to my word “Priority” (Matt 6:33 – Seek First) for 2025 when I did not “Look Up!” enough.
I encourage each of you determine YOUR “word” for 2026. The amount of time you consider and pray about this will determine the true and lasting benefit you achieve from it. As well, it represents an expression of commitment and accountability to live out a key value during the year. Try it, you’ll like it!
Here were key questions for each of us to briefly address at our 1030 Staff Training time on Wed, January 7.
- What is Your Word for 2026?
- What motivates you to choose this one to focus on?
- Is there a Bible verse that also gives an “executive summary” of your focus (“word”) for this next year?
If you follow NCHV on Facebook, keep your eyes open for an opportunity to tell us what your 2026 Word is.
What joy to know we all get to make another run at being more like Jesus in 2026!
Respectfully to all, 
Robert F. Dees
Calendar
- Thursdays at 4:00 p.m. Scheduled Tourscontact@healthyveterans.org if interested.
- First Thursdays at 7:00 p.m. Community Campfire at Valor Farm
Come join us for fellowship!
- Volunteer Saturday – January 17th
- Winter Ranch Horse Series #1 – January 31st
- NCHV at Moose Lodge Convention – February 6-7th
- Volunteer Appreciation Dinner – April 18th, 2026. Details to come
Prayer Points
- Pray for leadership in Washington D.C., and for national security at home and abroad.
- We give thanks for the visible and invisible signs of healing and restoration in the lives of our Veterans. May these transformations continue to blossom, a testament to Your love and the dedication of those who serve them. Amen.
- Without mentioning specifics, pray for the many Veterans and their families in our midst who have financial issues, health crises, relational dysfunction, and suffer from mental and emotional challenges. May God bring wellness to Veterans throughout the land. May we together, “Return Healthy Veterans to America”.
- Join us in praising God for the beauty of His Creation — horses, rivers, cattle, valleys, chickens, the fruit of the land, the beauty of the fields, the wonder of His Creation.
- Pray that the work of the National Center for Healthy Veterans would rapidly advance to provide help, hope, and healing for our nation’s Veterans and their families.
