In support of this effort Raytheon has provided $100,000 to Home Base

Home Base is proud to announce plans to expand services to Arizona.

Raytheon, an RTX business, recently provided Home Base a $100,000 grant, in support of Home Base’s programs to care for Veterans and their Families, with an emphasis on Native American Veterans in Arizona.

This generous gift will enable Home Base to begin building programs to support Veterans and their Families in the areas of wellness and mental health care in Arizona. These funds will further the shared vision of Home Base and Raytheon to improve mental health care access for rural and Native American Veteran communities in Arizona and the Southwest.

Nearly 500,000 Veterans call Arizona home. It is estimated that 1 in 3 Veterans returns home with an invisible wound including post-traumatic stress, traumatic brain injury and co-occurring

substance use disorder. There have been more than 4,000 Veteran suicides in Arizona since 9/11 and according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, 65 percent of Arizona’s Veterans were not seen as a patient at a VA healthcare facility in FY21. With as many as 320,000 Veterans in Arizona and beyond not utilizing VA healthcare, Home Base’s goal is to meet the growing need for innovative community-based solutions for Veteran care.

“At Home Base we know that the mental health care needs of Veterans and their Families remains great, and that is why we focus on finding innovative ways of directly delivering care to underserved communities, with Arizona Veterans, in particular Native American Veterans as a priority,” said Retired Brig. Gen. Jack Hammond, Executive Director, Home Base. “We are grateful to all our partners who are helping to make Home Base Arizona come to fruition, especially Raytheon for their seed funding, continued generosity and support of Home Base’s programs.”

“Through our partnership with Home Base, we have seen the life-saving results of their work with Veterans and their families from across the country,” said Wes Kremer, president of Raytheon. “Now, we are proud to help expand access to its critical care programs and expertise to communities in Arizona and the Southwest, where their presence can directly reach Native American Veterans and have a powerful and lasting impact.”

As part of this initiative Home Base has appointed a new Regional Associate Director for Home Base Arizona focusing on Southwest & Tribal Relations Marcus Denetdale. Denetdale, a citizen of the Navajo Nation, an Air Force veteran with extensive experience in developing programs from the ground up.

“The unique needs of Indigenous and Rural Veterans facing challenges with geography,

infrastructure and access to specialty care makes it extraordinarily difficult for Warriors impacted by the effects of traumatic stress disorders, depression, anxiety and substance use issues,” said Denetdale. “I am honored to lead this groundbreaking effort to ensure our Native Veteran community is not an afterthought but at the forefront of our minds to ensure we are finding innovative solutions in delivering the best possible mental and behavioral health care to the Native American Veteran population.”

Home Base is expected to launch community care in Arizona by the end of 2023. In the meantime, Veterans, Service Members, and their Families in Arizona are eligible to receive treatment from Home Base through our National Center of Excellence’s Intensive Clinical Program (ICP) for Veterans and Families of the Fallen. Travel, lodging, meals, and care are provided at no cost. To connect to care, visit homebase.org/getcare.  

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About Home Base

Home Base, a partnership between the Red Sox and MGH, operates the largest private-sector mental health and brain injury clinic in the nation focused on caring for Veterans, active-duty Service Members, Military-Connected Families and Families of the Fallen, healing from the invisible wounds of war. Home Base leverages the incredible medical resources of the MGH, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, and the greater Harvard Medical School, to create innovative models of care. Since inception, Home Base has provided clinical care and support to more than 30,000 Veterans, Service Members and Families across the nation – all at no cost to them. For more information visit homebase.org.

About RTX

RTX is the world’s largest aerospace and defense company. With more than 180,000 global employees, we push the limits of technology and science to redefine how we connect and protect our world. Through industry-leading businesses – Collins Aerospace, Pratt & Whitney, and Raytheon – we are advancing aviation, engineering integrated defense systems for operational success, and developing next-generation technology solutions and manufacturing to help global customers address their most critical challenges. The company, with 2022 sales of $67 billion, is headquartered in Arlington, Virginia.