A patriotic spectacle Nov. 3 at The Nest Golf Club in Bonita Springs \u2014 complete with Army generals and a Lee County Sheriff\u2019s Office helicopter flyover \u2014 was more than a salute to Veterans Day. It marked the 10th anniversary of the nonprofit Home Base Florida\u2019s signature fundraiser, created to combat veteran suicide and the invisible wounds of war.\u00a0<\/p>\n
More than two dozen local businesses sponsored the sold-out Home Base Golf Tournament and dinner, raising funds for the nonprofit\u2019s mission to provide world-class clinical care, wellness, peer support and research programs at no cost for veterans and their families.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Over the past decade, the event has generated more than $2 million for Home Base programs. This year alone, organizers said, it brought in another $380,000 to support veterans struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, traumatic brain injury and other service-related trauma.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are thousands of people who have a better life because of what you people are doing out here,\u201d retired Army Brig. Gen. Edward L. Dyer told 244 golfers before they teed off for the charity tournament.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Air Force veteran and Fort Myers resident Tyler King, 44, is one of them.\u00a0<\/p>\n
King served six years in the military, including as a security specialist in Iraq \u2014 an experience she described as both formative and deeply challenging. She credits it as \u201cone of the best decisions I made in my life.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Spectators photograph a Lee County Sheriff\u2019s Office helicopter flyover during the opening ceremony of the Home Base Golf Tournament on Nov. 3 at The Nest Golf Club in Bonita Springs.<\/p>\n
Evan Williams<\/p>\n
But the violence she witnessed overseas left lasting effects. She returned home struggling with trauma and PTSD, which she said made it difficult to connect emotionally with her teenage children and co-workers.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe crazy thing is, you\u2019re in the military but you don\u2019t really know how much the military has changed you,\u201d King said. \u201cThey build you up to what they want you to be. And then you\u2019re operating in a certain way. Then it\u2019s like, how do you turn that off? You don\u2019t just turn that off automatically. It\u2019s engrained in you. It\u2019s a part of you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
In 2024, King found herself at a low point \u2014 newly divorced, laid off and recovering from knee surgery. After hearing about Home Base from a friend, she enrolled in its 90-day Warrior Health and Fitness Program. With guidance from a certified trainer, she rebuilt her physical strength and confidence and eventually began teaching fitness classes again.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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A singer performs the national anthem beside an honor guard during the opening ceremony of the Home Base Florida Golf Tournament on Nov. 3 at The Nest Golf Club in Bonita Springs.<\/p>\n
Evan Williams<\/p>\n
King also participated in Home Base\u2019s Skillful Parenting and Impact of Trauma programs, which helped her manage her PTSD and connected her children with others whose parents had served.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel so much more confident,\u201d King said. \u201cMy outlook and my thought process is completely different. I really do credit Home Base with that.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Home Base is a national nonprofit and the first and largest private-sector clinic in the U.S. dedicated to treating the invisible wounds of war. Founded in partnership with Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard University, it offers a full range of clinical and wellness programs for veterans, service members and their families.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Home Base Florida, its first affiliate program, launched in 2014 to serve the state\u2019s large veteran population.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a lot of veterans, and the state hasn\u2019t done well in dealing with the issues they\u2019re dealing with,\u201d said Home Base Senior Director Armando Hernandez, a Marine Corps veteran. \u201cThis is something that is a hazard of military service and it will not go away.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
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A bagpiper performs for golfers lined up in carts before the start of the 10th annual Home Base Florida Golf Tournament at The Nest Golf Club in Bonita Springs.<\/p>\n
Evan Williams<\/p>\n
Home Base works in collaboration with Florida health care partners, including Lee Health in Lee County, David Lawrence Centers in Naples and Lakeview Center in Pensacola.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s all anchored in a community of goodwill here in Southwest Florida,\u201d said Home Base Executive Director Jack Hammond, a retired Army brigadier general.\u00a0<\/p>\n