Skip to site navigation Skip to main content Skip to footer site map
Logo for Make the Connection Home

Share Your Story

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) invites Veterans and their family members to participate in its national mental health awareness campaign, Make the Connection. By sharing your story on the Make the Connection website, you can help Veterans see there are people like them who are dealing with similar challenges.

It’s encouraging for Veterans to know that they’re not alone, that it’s OK to ask for support and that recovery is possible. That’s why Make the Connection is looking for Veterans of any age or branch of service who are willing to go on camera and share their stories about the mental health support or treatment they received in or outside of VA. Family members and others who have helped a Veteran work through a mental health concern are also encouraged to participate.

MakeTheConnection.net is an online resource designed to connect Veterans, their family members and, friends and other supporters with information, care and resources and treatment options to address mental health challenges affecting their lives. Watch and connect with Veteran stories through a searchable library of professionally produced video interviews, podcasts, testimonials, profiles of Veterans and articles about mental health conditions and treatments.

Since launching in 2011, the Make the Connection team has produced more than a thousand videos related to Veterans’ mental health.

We Need You

icon: email

In the coming months, the Make the Connection film crew will be traveling around the country to film Veterans’ stories.

If you live in or near the cities we are filming in and would like to participate, please email us!

Contact us now

Make the Connection is looking for additional Veteran participants who have received support or treatment for issues relating to mental health, and are able to share their stories on camera. Family members who have helped a Veteran work through such issues are also needed.

In the coming months, our professional crew will be travelling around the country to film interviews in the following metropolitan areas.

*More cities to be announced soon

Map with a pin in Helena, MT Cincinnati, OH Philadelphia, PA

We will be filming in the following areas for Veterans willing to share their experiences with mental health treatment. Dates coming soon!

We will be filming in the following areas for Veterans willing to share their experiences with treatment for alcohol or drug use.

Cincinnati, OH: May 6, 2024

Philadelphia, PA: May 8 - 9, 2024