95 Counties empowers American Descendants of U.S. Slavery in Tennessee through ancestral history preservation, land protection and advocacy.
We are incredibly proud to announce that 95 Counties has joined forces with Bonafide Therapeutic Alliance, LLC to launch the American Descendants of Slavery (ADOS) Veterans Mental Health Project.
Our shared mission is clear: to protect the families, land, and heritage of American Descendants of Slavery (ADOS) in Tennessee by taking care of the brave men and women who served our country. 
Encompassing all 95 counties in TN, especially areas lacking local mental health resources, this initiative deploys a secure, statewide telehealth pipeline to deliver immediate, evidence-based, trauma-informed individual psychotherapy.
The best part? It comes at absolutely ZERO out-of-pocket cost to the Veteran.
How You Can Help Make an Impact:
Mental health care shouldn’t be a financial barrier for our heroes. While $1,300 fully funds a standard 12-session Short-Term Brief Therapy plan for one ADOS Veteran, literally any amount helps us reach our goals. Whether you want to make a one-time gift or set up an ongoing impact, we offer flexible giving options to fit your budget:
One-time donations to jumpstart a recovery.
Monthly, Quarterly, or Yearly recurring options to provide sustainable, long-term support for our veterans.
Every single dollar builds this critical, trusted outpatient safety net. All donations flow through 95 Counties and are tax-deductible charitable donations.
You may be wondering…
Why are we focusing a program on ADOS Veterans? Well, here is the data and the intersecting reality:
When looking at the broader Veteran community, the public narrative is often unified around a single theme of service and gratitude. However, a closer look at the data reveals that the Veteran experience is far from uniform.
Along with 95 Counties, we designed this program with a deliberate focus on ADOS (American Descendants of Slavery) Veterans. This focus isn’t about exclusion; it is about recognizing a distinct intersection of institutional gaps, systemic disparities, and compounding trauma that requires targeted, specific solutions.
The data highlights exactly why this approach is important.
1. The 50% Disconnect
According to VA data, approximately 50% of the nation’s 18+ million veterans are not connected to the VA – meaning they do not utilize a single VA benefit, healthcare service, or support system.
For ADOS veterans, this gap often points to deep-seated institutional distrust and historical exclusion. When half of the veteran population operates completely outside the safety net they earned, broad outreach fails to reach them. Our program steps into this specific gap.
2. The Reality of Claim Denials
For those who do attempt to access their benefits, the process has historically yielded unequal results. A Government Accountability Office (GAO) analysis of historical VA data revealed a stark disparity:
Black veterans faced the lowest initial disability claim approval rates of any racial group at 61%, compared to 75% for white veterans.
This 14-point gap directly impacts generational wealth, medical care access, and financial stability, creating a specific need for targeted claims advocacy and support.
3. The Impact of “Bad Paper” Discharges
The disparities often begin long before a veteran files a claim; they start while in uniform. Research indicates that Black service members are roughly 50% more likely than white service members to receive an Other Than Honorable (OTH) or “bad paper” discharge rather than an Honorable discharge.
Because military justice systems allow for significant subjective discretion, implicit biases can influence outcomes. A bad paper discharge strips a veteran of the GI Bill, VA healthcare, and housing support. This project focuses on this demographic because these discharges frequently fast-track vulnerable veterans into civilian hardships.
The Intersection: Intergenerational Meets Military Trauma
This project focuses on ADOS veterans because their healing journey requires understanding how military trauma intersects with a foundational bedrock of intergenerational trauma.
Layered Hypervigilance: ADOS individuals often carry an inherited hypervigilance, a survival mechanism developed from navigating generations of systemic racism and civilian trauma. When military or combat trauma is added to an already overtaxed nervous system, the psychological impact is deeply compounded.
The Broken Promise of Meritocracy: Many join the military expecting a colorblind meritocracy. Encountering racial harassment or biased disciplinary actions instead triggers a profound moral injury. The disconnect between the values they fought for and the reality they experienced creates a unique emotional burden.
The Process of “Weathering”: In public health, “weathering” refers to the premature aging and health degradation caused by the chronic stress of enduring systemic racism. Layering military-grade stressors on top of this pre-existing wear-and-tear often leads to worse health outcomes earlier in life for ADOS veterans.
The Trust Deficit: Intergenerational experiences breed a justifiable skepticism of government, medical, and legal institutions. When an ADOS veteran faces a bureaucratic roadblock at the VA, it often reinforces that distrust, causing them to walk away from the system entirely.
Blanket veteran initiatives often miss the people at the margins because they treat a diverse community as a monolith.
We are focusing this program on ADOS veterans because their hurdles are uniquely shaped by history, military justice disparities, and institutional gatekeeping. By acknowledging the compounding weight of historical and military trauma, we can build precise, effective pathways that help these veterans secure the dignity, healing, and benefits they rightfully earned.
Choose the giving option that works for you and donate today: https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/donation-form/american-descendants-of-slavery-veterans-mental-health-project
Questions? Reach out to us:
95 Counties – hello@95counties.com
Bonafide Therapeutic Alliance, LLC – info@bonafidetherapeuticalliancellc.com or 931-914-4807