About The Fund

The Fund

The Josh Pallotta Fund, Inc. is a 501(c)3, non-profit organization, created by a group of Veterans, family, and community members in memory of Joshua R. Pallotta; dedicated to supporting Veterans and Service Members.

At the Josh Pallotta Fund, we support Josh’s House, a wellness and recreation center for Vermont’s service members. We hope to combine local and national resources, emergency services, and research to provide Veterans the resiliency, transition and reintegration tools to help them sustain or return to full and healthy lives.

We aim to be a resource for Veterans and community members through our safe spaces, in our private and community events, and by providing the best information and education available.

Our Mission

At Josh’s House we believe that one suicide a day is too many, that Post Traumatic Stress isn’t a limiting factor, and that we are all strongest when we come together. We strive to provide valuable help to our Veterans, their families and their community. Josh's House is maintained not only by sponsors and benefit events, but by the wonderful volunteers who help make meals, work at events, and are able to make financial donations. Won't you consider donating in some way?

Donate a Meal

Donate Money

Volunteer

Visit our Store

Ways to Support

Meal Train

Do you like to cook? Volunteer to make a meal for Josh's House. You get to pick the day. Visit the Meal Train page for more information regarding types of dishes, amount of people to plan for, and days available.

Donations

If you are able to make a tax deductible financial donation, you're money will go directly to the fund and the support of Veterans.

Volunteer

We are always looking for volunteers to work at a booth table during an event or working a shift at Josh's House.

Visit our Store

Check out our online store. Merchandise is available in all sizes.

Our Story

Joshua R. Pallotta joined the Vermont National Guard in 2009 knowing he would deploy to Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. When Josh told us he was joining I immediately sought support through the Vermont National Guard Parent Network where I met a group of wonderful Moms and Dads. Out of this group a handful of us wanted to give back and do more for our boys (kind of without them thinking we were helping them). So, we did a lot of research and found Blue Star Mothers of America, Inc. We chartered the first Vermont Chapter in 2011 and do a lot of emergency financial support for Veterans. We also support two Veteran Transitional Housing facilities by cooking meals once a month, celebrate and support them for Thanksgiving and Christmas with dinners, gifts, cookies, etc., assist them with gift cards for Veterans who are transitioning out into their own apartments, and established the Pet Program. As the chartering President and current Vice President (term ending August, 2017), I did a lot of advocating for our Veterans.

While my son was deployed they lost two of their brothers. Josh never really came home from that. He struggled with physical injuries (back issues due to being in mortars), and Post-Traumatic Stress (PTS). On September 23, 2014 he lost his battle with PTS and ended his life. After he died I went to Washington, D.C. to testify before the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs to support the Clay Hunt Act (which I didn’t know was why I was there but it was good to be there.)

Since then I have done a lot to raise awareness because I tell our story any chance I have the opportunity to. We are very open about how Josh died because we know we can’t help anybody else if we don’t tell our story. After Josh’s death, because of my work with Blue Star Mothers of Vermont, we started receiving a lot of donations. People wanted to do something to help. We were very thoughtful in what we wanted, what our Veterans needed. We talked to a lot of Veterans and from what we heard, we knew they really needed and wanted a place to just hang out and be with others who shared the same story.

So, we decided to develop Josh’s House VT which will be a wellness recreation center offering massage, complementary and alternative healing modalities, a meditation room, a gym, video and game room, meeting and study rooms, a full kitchen for community dinners and cooking lessons, and more.

We won’t stop until there is an end to Veteran suicide. #ForJoshua

-Valerie Pallotta