CHARLESTOWN, MA – Home Base and the Massachusetts Military Heroes Fund (MMHF), two leading nonprofits supporting bereaved Military Families throughout the Commonwealth, have formally merged, creating a powerful joint effort to coordinate and enhance services to the Families of the Fallen.

The merger formally cements the longstanding partnership between Home Base and MMHF and the program will be renamed MMHF at Home Base.

“Home Base is tremendously thrilled and honored that MMHF is now officially a permanent program within the Home Base Family,” Home Base Leadership, Retired General Jack Hammond, Executive Director and Michael Allard, Chief Operating Officer said. “Families of the Fallen are too often overlooked and the services available to them are often egregiously narrow. This partnership solidifies our commitment to provide much needed services to Massachusetts’ Military Bereaved Families and ensure services for them will not only be supported but strengthened for years to come.”

“We have been honored to serve Families of the Fallen in Massachusetts for more than 15 years, through direct support and large-scale public displays of honor and remembrance,” said Thomas Crohan, President of the Massachusetts Military Heroes Fund. “On behalf of the MMHF Board, we are incredibly grateful to Home Base for its years of partnership and for ensuring this critical work continues and expands, through this merger, so bereaved families in Massachusetts continue to have all the support they need for as long as they need it.”

MMHF has been proud to provide a place of community and belonging to more than 300 local families of the fallen since it launched in 2009 and, through the support of a generous community, has assisted many of these families with direct grant assistance nearly 270 times in the last 15 years.

Since November 2022, Home Base has provided MMHF with administrative, program and operational oversight. While Massachusetts Military Heroes Fund will no longer continue as a standalone non-profit, MMHF at Home Base is committed to providing enhanced clinical mental health care resources, financial support and assistance to Families of the Fallen, as well as continuing the tradition of hosting important community building events, including the annual Memorial Day Flag Garden on Boston Common and the 9/11 care package service project – all with the goal of honoring and remembering our fallen while providing meaningful support to their families.

Home Base provides a full spectrum of programs and services for Families of the Fallen, including intensive clinical therapy for certain types of grief (available to families nationwide), traditional outpatient counseling for grief, bereavement and adjustment issues (available to Massachusetts Families of the Fallen), skills-based workshops on parenting, trauma and resiliency (accessible virtually, nationwide for Families of the Fallen), peer support for New England Families through the Adventure Series program, and financial assistance for post 9/11 Massachusetts Families of the Fallen needing extra help with funeral costs and basic needs. 

As part of the merger, Home Base will now be a beneficiary of the Massachusetts “United We Stand” license plate. Since 2008, these license plates have generated nearly $1.4 million to support MMHF.

MMHF’s respected Director, Diane Nealon, will continue to lead the day-to-day operations of the program.

“It has been my sincere pleasure to work with the Home Base team for the past year and a half to transition the Families of the Fallen program from MMHF to Home Base,” said Diane Nealon, Director, Families of the Fallen at Home Base. “The opportunity to lead MMHF at Home Base while expanding services to Massachusetts Families ensures our commitment to support all areas of need for Families of the Fallen.”

ABOUT HOME BASE

Home Base is a national nonprofit dedicated to healing the invisible wounds of war for Veterans of all eras, Service Members, Military Families and Families of the Fallen through world-class, direct clinical care, wellness, education and research – all at no cost to them – regardless of era of service, discharge status or geographical location. The program was founded by Massachusetts General Hospital and the Boston Red Sox organization in 2009. For more information visit: https://homebase.org/mmhfathomebase

CONTACT

Kelly Field, Director of Marketing and Communications, Home Base

kefield@mgh.harvard.edu | 617-697-8056