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Daring to Dream: The Story Behind the National Veterans Outdoors Resource HUB
- National Veterans Outdoors Resource HUB
- Jul 18
- 5 min read
Updated: Jul 22
By Theresa D. Walters,
Founder of www.usvetconnect.com,
The National Veterans Outdoors Resource HUB.
Before the National Veterans Outdoors Resource HUB was ever a website, it was something much smaller and just as personal. It was a list of things I could do with my dad. Michael J. Walters was a Vietnam veteran, an avid outdoorsman, and a dedicated advocate for his fellow veterans. The outdoors was where he was most himself. As a veteran myself, I understood in my own bones what those wide-open spaces could give a person. So, I started keeping a list.
That little list was the seed of everything.
Back in early 2018, I sat down in front of a blank website and a full heart. What had started as things to do with my dad had me looking at organization after organization all over the internet — good people doing good work, opening the outdoors to veterans in ways that were changing lives. And the more I looked, the more one thought kept growing in me: what if all of this could live in one place? Then when I finally had the courage to voice it; to say this is what I wanted to do, my sister, Michelle, simply said "Why isn't it done yet?!"
That was the moment I dared to dream something bigger.
We didn't just want to build a website. We wanted to build a bridge — a place where a veteran anywhere in this country could come, catch their breath, and find their way back outside. Back to the water, the trails, the mountains, the open sky. Back to the kind of adventure that reminds you that you're still here, and that there's still so much living left to do. The kind of adventure I wanted for myself and every veteran.
The very first organization I added to the HUB was Dare to Dream Ranch.
There's something fitting about that, looking back. I was daring to dream while I was building this thing from nothing, and the first name I placed into the resource carried that same spirit right in its title. It felt less like a coincidence and more like a sign that I was pointed in the right direction. One vetted organization became the first stone in a path I was still imagining — the beginning of the National Veterans Outdoors Resource HUB.
Dare to Dream Ranch is a holistic military retreat in Foster, Rhode Island, welcoming veterans, active service members, and their families for healing that happens outdoors and hands-on. Founded and led by the inspiring President Karen Dalton, a certified health coach, the Ranch built its mission around a simple creed — R.I.S.E.: Respect others, Inspire greatness, Support the journey, and Empower success. Rather than a clinical setting, it offers alternative and restorative programs that meet veterans where they are: equine therapy that uses the horse's intuitive, mirroring nature to help work through personal challenges, along with fly tying and fishing, woodworking, horticulture and agri-therapy, and psychiatric service dogs. Together these programs give those who have served a peaceful place to refocus, reconnect, and rebuild confidence while managing the weight of PTSD, anxiety, and depression. It's a place where service members and their families are reminded they don't have to carry it alone — and it's exactly the kinds of organizations that first inspired me to dream bigger and build the HUB.
Dare to Dream Ranch: From that first entry, the HUB started to take shape, one trusted organization at a time. The hope has always been simple, even when the work behind it wasn't, bring veterans together to one place to find adventure.
For too long, the resources have been scattered. A veteran ready to get outside might have spent hours searching, clicking through dead ends, not knowing which programs were real, which were still running, or which were built with them in mind. I wanted to take that weight off your shoulders. I wanted a veteran to be able to arrive in one spot and see the doors that are open to them, all at once.
That's the heart of it. Not just information, belonging. A place to come together and discover that the outdoors is still waiting for them, and that they don't have to find it alone.
From there, my inspiration only grew, and it came from watching others too.
I watch these organizations pour themselves into the veteran community — guiding hunts and fishing trips, leading hikes, opening ranches and rivers, meeting veterans exactly where they are. As I built the HUB, I made it my responsibility to vet these organizations, to look closely and carefully, because the veterans who use this resource deserve to trust every name they find here.
And the more I vetted, the more inspired I became. Every organization I studied showed me what dedication really looks like. They didn't just talk about serving veterans — they did the work, day after day. That's a well I never ran dry of. Their commitment feeds mine every day.
I won't pretend the everyday work is glamorous, because it isn't. Keeping the HUB alive means showing up whether or not anyone is watching. It means checking, updating, adding, correcting, and caring about the small details that most people will never see.
But I've come to understand something about that work: it is an act of love. Love for the veteran community. Love for the men and women who gave so much and deserve a place that gives back. Every hour I put into keeping this resource current is an hour spent saying, Veteran, You matter, and I want this to be here for you when you're ready.
That's what keeps me going when the days are long. Not obligation but love.
At its core, the National Veterans Outdoors Resource HUB bridges the gap between veterans and the outdoors. It gives them a place to come together online and find adventure — all of it gathered into one place, so the next step is never as far away as it used to feel. Find your next veterans' adventure today.
That's what I set out to build in 2018, and that's what we are still building today. It started with one dream, one website, and one small list of organizations, but Dare To Dream Ranch was first to be added. It's grown into something I hope every veteran can call their own. Do you feel strongly about the National Veterans Outdoors Resource HUB and getting veterans outdoors? Become an ambassador today. Simply share this information with everyone you think that could use alittle adventure!
If you're a veteran reading this — the outdoors is still yours.
The adventure is still out there. And live since 2019, so is the HUB which is growing by the day. It was an honor to see the National Veterans Outdoors Resource HUB recognized in Stars and Stripes recently. Moments like this remind us why the work matters: www.stripes.com/veterans/2026-03-27/bill-funds-outdoor-recreation-veterans-21198291.html | Stars and Stripes
Welcome back home to the outdoors, www.usvetconnect.com
Respectfully and with a high dose of optimism,
Theresa D. Walters
Thank you. I'll be going on my first outdoor adventure soon!