The Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund is a non-profit organization that currently builds advanced treatment centers to provide care to military personnel suffering from traumatic brain injury (TBI) and post-traumatic stress (PTS). Since its inception in 2000, IFHF has provided over $200 million to treat service members with TBI and PTS and those with amputations and severe burn injuries, in addition to helping families of US military personnel killed in action.

Initiatives

Family support

IFHF's first initiative was to provide support to families of both the United States and British military personnel lost in performance of their duty, mostly in service in Iraq and Afghanistan. In the years from 2000 to 2005, the Fund provided close to $20 million to spouses and dependent children, and to parents of unmarried service members. In 2005, federal legislation substantially increased the benefits to these families, and IFHF redirected its efforts.

Center for the Intrepid

IFHF’s next initiative was supporting military personnel severely wounded while serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. To support this effort, IFHF raised the funds and built the Center for the Intrepid, located at

Brooke Army Medical Center Brooke Army Medical Center (BAMC) is the United States Army's premier medical institution. Located on Fort Sam Houston, BAMC, a 425-bed Academic Medical Center, is the Department of Defense's largest facility and only Level 1 Trauma Center. BAMC ...

in San Antonio, Texas. The Center for the Intrepid was completed and opened in 2007.

National Intrepid Center of Excellence

After completion of the Center for the Intrepid, IFHF began to tackle

traumatic brain injury A traumatic brain injury (TBI), also known as an intracranial injury, is an injury to the brain caused by an external force. TBI can be classified based on severity (ranging from mild traumatic brain injury TBI/concussionto severe traumatic b ...

and post-traumatic stress in military personnel. IFHF constructed the National Intrepid Center of Excellence (NICoE), located in Bethesda, Maryland, at the

Walter Reed National Military Medical Center The Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (WRNMMC), formerly known as the National Naval Medical Center and colloquially referred to as the Bethesda Naval Hospital, Walter Reed, or Navy Med, is a United States' tri-service military medi ...

. This location allows close collaboration with the

Uniformed Services University Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU) is a health science university of the U.S. federal government. The primary mission of the school is to prepare graduates for service to the U.S. at home and abroad in the medical corps as ...

, the

National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health, commonly referred to as NIH (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in the late ...

, and the

Veterans Health Administration The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) is the component of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) led by the Under Secretary of Veterans Affairs for Health that implements the healthcare program of the VA through a national ...

. NICoE was dedicated and opened in 2010, and provides diagnostics, initial treatment plans, family education, introduction to therapeutic modalities, and referral and reintegration support for military personnel and veterans suffering from these issues. In addition, NICoE conducts research, tests new protocols and provides comprehensive training and education to patients, providers and families, while also maintaining ongoing

telehealth Telehealth is the distribution of health-related services and information via electronic information and telecommunication technologies. It allows long-distance patient and clinician contact, care, advice, reminders, education, intervention, mon ...

follow-up care with patients all over the country and throughout the world.

Intrepid Spirit Centers

In January 2012, the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund announced its newest and current initiative: the creation of additional centers to serve as satellites to NICoE. As of August 2020, eight Intrepid Spirit Centers have been funded, built, and opened at the following military bases around the United States: *

Fort Belvoir Fort Belvoir is a United States Army installation and a census-designated place (CDP) in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. It was developed on the site of the former Belvoir plantation, seat of the prominent Fairfax family for whom Fair ...

, VA *

Camp Lejeune Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune () is a United States military training facility in Jacksonville, North Carolina. Its of beaches make the base a major area for amphibious assault training, and its location between two deep-water ports ( Wilmingt ...

, NC *

Fort Campbell Fort Campbell is a United States Army installation located astride the Kentucky–Tennessee border between Hopkinsville, Kentucky, Hopkinsville, Kentucky and Clarksville, Tennessee, Clarksville, Tennessee (post address is located in Kentucky). F ...

, KY *

Fort Hood Fort Hood is a United States Army post located near Killeen, Texas. Named after Confederate General John Bell Hood, it is located halfway between Austin and Waco, about from each, within the U.S. state of Texas. The post is the headquarters ...

, TX *

Fort Bragg Fort Bragg is a military installation of the United States Army in North Carolina, and is one of the largest military installations in the world by population, with around 54,000 military personnel. The military reservation is located within Cum ...

, NC *

Joint Base Lewis-McChord A joint or articulation (or articular surface) is the connection made between bones, ossicles, or other hard structures in the body which link an animal's skeletal system into a functional whole.Saladin, Ken. Anatomy & Physiology. 7th ed. McGraw ...

, WA *

Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton is the major West Coast base of the United States Marine Corps and is one of the largest Marine Corps bases in the United States. It is on the Southern California coast in San Diego County and is bordered by Oc ...

, CA *

Eglin Air Force Base Eglin Air Force Base is a United States Air Force (USAF) base in the western Florida Panhandle, located about southwest of Valparaiso in Okaloosa County. The host unit at Eglin is the 96th Test Wing (formerly the 96th Air Base Wing). The ...

, FL *

Fort Carson Fort Carson is a United States Army post located directly south of Colorado Springs in El Paso, Pueblo, Fremont, and Huerfano counties, Colorado, United States. The developed portion of Fort Carson is located near the City of Colorado Springs i ...

, CO

Popular culture

In 2008,

Piers Morgan Piers Stefan Pughe-Morgan (; né O'Meara; born 30 March 1965) is a British broadcaster, journalist, writer, and television personality. He began his Fleet Street career in 1988 at '' The Sun''. In 1994, aged 29, he was appointed editor of the ...

won $754,300 for the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund on the competitive reality show

Celebrity Apprentice ''The Celebrity Apprentice'' is an American television reality competition series. It was a variation of ''The Apprentice'' series, hosted by then real estate developer (later 45th president of the United States The president of the Unite ...

(

The Apprentice (U.S. season 7) ''The Apprentice'' is a Reality competition, reality talent game show franchise originally aired in 2004 in the United States. Created by U.S.-based British producer Mark Burnett, the show depicts contestants from around the country with variou ...

). On

Veterans Day Veterans Day (originally known as Armistice Day) is a federal holiday in the United States observed annually on November 11, for honoring military veterans of the United States Armed Forces (who were discharged under conditions other than di ...

in 2011, ABC's '' Extreme Makeover: Home Edition'' hosted a one-hour special: ''Extreme Makeover: Home Edition "Rise and Honor" A Veterans Day Special''. The net proceeds raised during the show benefited six different veteran-serving organizations, including the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund.

References

* *{{cite web , url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/24/AR2010062406295.html, title=Center to treat troops with brain injuries opens in Bethesda , first=Kevin, last=Sieff, work=washingtonpost.com , date=25 June 2010 , accessdate=May 17, 2018

External links

* https://www.fallenheroesfund.org/about-us * https://www.fallenheroesfund.org/intrepid-spirit * https://web.archive.org/web/20100330093936/http://www.dcoe.health.mil/ComponentCenters/NICoE.aspx * http://www.bamc.amedd.army.mil/departments/orthopaedic/cfi/ * http://www.fisherhouse.org/ Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury Organizations established in 2000 Non-profit organizations based in New York City Disability organizations based in the United States Medical and health organizations based in New York (state)