A HeartsFlow Inc. initiative · Monroe County, Florida
Operation Second Mission
Ending veteran homelessness. One veteran. One home. One Second Mission.
First Mission: Serve Your Country. Second Mission: Build What Comes Next.
Veterans should not navigate a crisis alone
full-time veterans, plus about 2,500 seasonal, live in the Florida Keys.
The barriers are stacked
Homelessness, housing instability, financial hardship, mental health and substance-use challenges, unemployment, and isolation. Each comes with its own agency, phone number, application, and eligibility rules.
Source: Monroe County Veterans Affairs
Six steps from first contact to a stable future
1 Identify
Meet the veteran where they are.
2 Verify
Confirm service and map the benefits available.
3 Stabilize
Housing, food, documents, care, and crisis help.
4 Heal
Health, trauma, and recovery care, with the connection confirmed.
5 Rebuild
Housing, income, training, and life skills.
6 Thrive
Permanent housing, sustainable income, purpose.
Every veteran gets an individual plan
Housing
Temporary to permanent
Health
Body, mind, recovery
Benefits
VA, disability, Social Security
Employment
Skills, employers, mentors
Training
Certifications, apprenticeships
Business
Mentorship and financing
Life skills
Budgeting, documents, tech
Purpose
Fellow veterans, community
A Resource Center where veterans walk in and move forward
The center
A dedicated Monroe County hub that identifies needs, sets priorities, connects resources, removes barriers, and tracks progress with each veteran.
The 6 to 9 month target
Permanent housing and sustainable income where circumstances allow. Some veterans will need longer, and progress matters more than the deadline.
Permanent housing + sustainable income + continued support + purpose
Accountability runs both ways, and the mission continues after housing
The veteran
Engages with the plan, attends appointments, communicates, and pursues agreed goals.
Second Mission
Follows through on referrals, tracks progress, and keeps searching when the first option fails.
Follow-up
Check-ins at 30, 90, and 180 days. Is the veteran still housed, stable, and moving forward?
Strengthen what Monroe County already has
Veterans helping veterans
Businesses employing veterans
Professionals donating expertise
Organizations sharing resources
Communities supporting neighbors
Volunteers answering the call
The uniform may come off. The mission doesn't end.
They answered the call to serve us. Now it's our opportunity to answer theirs.
Answer the call: give todayGive monthly and become part of the plan
Predictable monthly gifts let us say yes to a veteran today instead of next quarter. Every gift is welcome. Pick an amount.
Scan to giveMore ways to answer the call
You do not have to be able to give money to matter here. Share, raise, volunteer, hire, or tell a veteran who needs help.
Pick your mission
You do not have to be able to give money to matter here. Choose what is true for you right now and see the one next step.
Start a mini-fundraiser in two minutes
Birthdays, businesses, teams, and clubs raise more together than any one donor can alone. Tell us the setup and get a plan and a ready-to-send ask.
Your plan will appear here.
Small, together, adds up
Slide to see what a group can do. These are simple multiplication and illustration, not promises.
If we give together
Per month
$250
If we share together
People who hear about Second Mission
10
Illustration only: you plus the people you tell, plus the people they tell.
From crisis to home, and where you fit
Every veteran moves through six steps with an individual plan. Choose a step to see what happens and how a neighbor can help.
Know a veteran who needs help right now?
You do not need to solve it. You only need to point them to the first call. Share this card with anyone who might need it.
Call these first
- 988, press 1
Veterans Crisis Line. Confidential, 24/7. Text 838255 or chat at veteranscrisisline.net. - 305-295-5150
Monroe County Veterans Affairs, Key West. Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. - 305-453-8777
Monroe County Veterans Affairs, Key Largo. Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
What to say
- Ask them what they need today: a place to sleep, food, a ride, a doctor, or someone to talk to.
- Offer to make the first call with them, or sit with them while they do.
- If they talk about hurting themselves, call 988 and press 1 with them, and stay.
- Then tell us. Second Mission exists so nobody has to untangle the system alone.