Congratulations to the 2025 VDF-Large Grant Awardees!
PHOENIX, Ariz. – The Arizona Department of Veterans’ Services (ADVS) is thrilled to announce the 2025 Veterans’ Donation Fund (VDF) Large Grant winners! This year, ADVS was able to award the highest amount of grant money to our community organizations in the history of the VDF.
The Arizona Legislature created the VDF in 1999 to fund programs that benefit Arizona Veterans and their families. Arizona law specifies that VDF donations are held in an account that can never revert to the State General Fund and can only be used to benefit Veterans in the State of Arizona through small ($4,999.99 or less) and large grants ($5,000 - $100,000).
"The Veterans' Donation Fund is a vital resource for our Veteran community because it provides critical support to programs that may not have that money available otherwise. This ensures that we are working with our community partners to continue to provide the care and support that our Veterans deserve," said Grants Coordinator Senior Rob Davis.
Congratulations to these 25 Arizona organizations awarded 2025 VDF large grants!
Imprints of Honor (Awarded $25,000): Preserves Veteran service stories and legacies through interviews with students to empower and inspire the next generation. For more information, visit https://www.imprintsofhonor.org/
Youth for Troops (Awarded $11,400): Creates move-in baskets for Veterans transitioning into permanent housing. For more information, visit https://youthfortroops.org/
Veterans 5-9 (Awarded 100,000): Provides nighttime and weekend resources for substance abuse, mental health and more to Veterans who are homeless, exiting the military, currently in the military and incarcerated Veterans. For more information, visit https://veterans5-9.com/
Veterans Community Project (Awarded $100,000): The VCP of Glendale will be a specialized village of transitional homes with wraparound support services to help Veterans experiencing homelessness. The project broke ground this year and is expected to be complete by 2027.For more information, visit https://www.veteranscommunityproject.org/glendale
Native American Fatherhood and Families Association (Awarded $100,000): Helps with Veteran reentry services, housing and connection to benefits. For more information, visit https://www.nativeamericanfathers.org/
Jerry Ambrose Veterans Council of Mohave County (Awarded $99,685): Provides free Kingman Area Regional Transit bus passes for Veterans. For more information, visit https://javc.org/
Mesa Arts Center Foundation (Awarded $75,000): Arts in Service program provides pathways for Veterans and service members to use studio arts experiencing to help find a supportive community, stress relief, work towards health and wellness or pursue a career in art making. For more information, visit https://mesaartscenter.com/artsinservice
Soldier's Best Friend (Awarded $75,000): Matches military Veterans living with combat-related Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or Traumatic Brain Injury with service or therapeutic companion dogs rescued from local shelters. For more information, visit https://soldiersbestfriend.org/
Central Arizona Shelter Services Inc. (CASS) (Awarded $100,000): Provides shelter services for Veterans facing homelessness. For more information, visit https://www.cassaz.org/
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona Health Choice (Awarded $100,000): Helps Veteran families out of homelessness in Yavapai, Coconino and Mohave Counties by providing direct assistance and resources to obtain or maintain stable housing through their Veteran Homeless Diversion Assistance Funding program.
Casa Grande Alliance, Inc. (Awarded $100,000): Helps address substance misuse with Veterans through education and awareness services, treatment resource information, coalition mentoring and administrative support. For more information, visit https://casagrandealliance.org/
World at Ease, Inc./ DBA Warriors at Ease (Awarded $12,000): Provides training for yoga teachers to bring trauma-informed, adaptive yoga and mindfulness practices to the military community. For more information, visit https://www.warriorsatease.org/
Valley of the Sun YMCA (Awarded $100,000): YMCA Healthy Start Program for Veteran Wellness provides increased health care access for Veterans to improve physical and mental health.
Law College Association of the University of Arizona (Awarded $65,000): The Veterans’ Advocacy Law Clinic at Arizona Law provides pro bono legal services to Veterans. The only law school clinic in Arizona whose clientele are exclusively Veterans and service members. The only non-profit program in Arizona that focuses exclusively on the legal needs of Veterans. For more information, visit https://law.arizona.edu/clinics/veterans-advocacy-law-clinic
U.S. Vets (Prescott) (Awarded $100,000): Provides direct services and support for Veterans in Northern Arizona. For more information, visit https://usvets.org/locations/prescott/
U.S. Vets (Phoenix) (Awarded $63,693.55): Provides direct services and support for Veterans in Central Arizona. For more information, visit https://usvets.org/locations/phoenix/
Coconino Community College (Awarded $40,000): Provides guidance to further the educational goals for service members and Veterans. For more information, visit their website at https://www.coconino.edu/veteran-services
Houck Veterans Organization (Awarded $75,000): Provides assistance and much-needed home repairs for Navajo Veterans living in substandard housing.
Veterans Furniture Center (Awarded $99,963):Fights Veteran homelessness by providing new furniture and household goods to help Veterans transitioning from homelessness to a furnished home. For more information, visit-https://veteransfurniturecenter.org/
The Home of Record Project (Awarded $100,000): Provides housing and aid to Veterans experiencing homelessness or on the verge of homelessness. For more information, visit-https://homeofrecordproject.org/
VMLC Charities (Awarded $100,000): Advocates initiatives that enhance the quality of Veteran’s health care and services in Arizona, and to raise funds to primarily assist Arizona Veterans in crises at the Phoenix VA Health Care System and the Arizona State Veteran Home that fall outside federal and state funding guidelines. For more information, visit https://arizonavmlc.org/
Home Base AZ (Awarded $100,000): Provides comprehensive wellness and behavioral health care services for Arizona Veterans, active duty military and their families. For more information, visit https://homebase.org/programs/arizona/
Justa Center, Inc. (Awarded $63,000): Provides assistance to transition Veterans experiencing homelessness to stable housing. For more information, visit https://www.justacenter.org/path-to-housing
New Leaf Inc. (Awarded $100,000): The Veteran Assistance Program will provide emergency intervention for low-income Veterans, including housing support, workforce services for formerly incarcerated Veterans and mentorship opportunities. For more information, visit https://turnanewleaf.org/
Navajo Veterans Organization (Awarded $95,258): Provides services and resources to Veterans, surviving spouses and Gold Star mothers on the Navajo Reservation. For more information, visit https://navajoveterans.org/
Total VDF large grants awarded: $2,000,000
The Arizona Department of Veterans’ Services would also like to thank the VDF large grant review team who evaluated grant applications from nearly 60 Arizona organizations. To learn more about the Arizona Veterans’ Donation Fund visit https://dvs.az.gov/services/financial-assistance/donation-fund