For veterans, families, and caregivers
You’ve carriedenough alone.
Free, peer-led support for veterans and the people who love them — how you sleep, how you work, and who you come home to. No cost, no red tape, nothing to prove.
- $0
- What it costs you
- 1
- Conversation to start
- Anywhere
- In person in Columbus, virtual elsewhere
Start where you are
What do you needright now?
Pick the line that sounds like you. Every one of them ends with a person, not a form.
I need help right now
Call 988, then press 1. The Veterans Crisis Line answers 24/7. You do not need the right words.
Call 988I’m not okay, but I’m safe
Peer support and health coaching. No diagnosis required, no explaining your story twice.
Find supportI need work that fits
Career coaching, employer introductions, and help translating what you did in uniform.
See career programsI want to be around people
Weekly gatherings, service projects, and a seat at the table. Bring your family if you want.
See what’s coming upWhat’s available
Four ways in.
Whole health
ReSet
Peer support, health coaching, yoga, and time outdoors. Start here if the basics feel hard right now.
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Work & career
ReEngage
Career coaching, employer introductions, and a cohort that gets what starting over at forty feels like.
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Creative work
ReFocus
Photography, writing, and storytelling. Say what happened, in your own words, on your own terms.
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Growing things
RePlantNow running
Growing food, keeping something alive. Routine, patience, and a reason to get up early again.
View programWhere to begin
Wellness first.Then work. Then people.
You do not have to be ready for all of it. Most people start with one thing, at their own pace, and add as they go.
ReSet
Start with how you feel
Running on no sleep, short fuse, pain you have not told anyone about. Start here. Little else holds until this does.
- Peer support
- Health coaching
- Yoga & mindfulness
- Creative work
- Time outdoors
ReEngage
Get to work that fits
Turn what you actually did in uniform into a job you can grow in — with people who will vouch for you.
- Career coaching
- Résumés & interviews
- Employer introductions
- Starting a business
- Finishing a degree
ReConnect
Come back to people
Show up somewhere you are expected. Being around people who get it is most of the work, and it counts.
- Weekly gatherings
- Service projects
- Family events
- Civic engagement
- Volunteer leadership
Starting issimpler than you think.
No referral. No discharge papers on the table. No income check. You reach out, we listen, you decide what comes next.
- $0
- What it costs youFree to every veteran and family member. No bills, no billing office.
- 1
- Call to startTell us what is going on. We ask what you want to change, not what you are owed.
- 2 days
- Until we call backA real person, usually one who has been where you are.
- Weekly
- When we meetIn person in Columbus. On video from anywhere else.
Who this is for
Three ways in.
Veterans and families come first. Volunteers and donors are what make that possible.
Veterans & families
You served, or you love someone who did. Start with one conversation — free, no referral, nothing to prove.
Start hereVolunteers
Give a few hours a month. Mentor, cook, drive, coach, or help run an event.
VolunteerDonors
Keep every program free — one-time, monthly, or through a donor-advised fund.
GiveFrom the field
Out in the communityas it happens.
Meet Operation Meraki, a veteran-led nonprofit supporting veterans and their families in Columbus, Ohio. Our work is built on three areas: 𝗥𝗲𝗦𝗲𝘁: peer support, wellness, and creative programs;…
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#OperationMeraki #DadSupportingDads #veteransoftiktok #replantprogram
Today, we celebrate the freedoms so many have fought to protect. At Operation Meraki, we carry a deep respect for the sa…
🎗️ Today, We Remember. Memorial Day is not a day of celebration; it is a day of sacred remembrance. At Operation Mera…
Why “Operation Meraki”
“Life after service is not the end. It is the next operation, and no veteran should run it alone.”
Michael Thomas
Founder & Executive Director
“Operation” honors the military mindset: life after service is the next mission. The Greek word behind our name means doing something with soul, creativity, and love. We bring both — the rigor of an operation, and the heart.
Our word to you
What you can expectfrom us.
Not values on a wall. This is what actually happens when you pick up the phone.
Someone answers
A real person, not a portal. You will not be handed a form and forgotten about.
Nothing to prove
No rank check, no discharge review, no income test. If you served, you qualify.
Your pace, not ours
Come every week or come back in a year. The door stays open either way.
Peer to peer
The people you meet have worn the uniform, or lived with someone who has.
Your people are welcome
Spouses, kids, and caregivers are part of the work, not spectators to it.
We come after you
When someone goes quiet, we reach out. Nobody disappears on our watch.
Common questions
Before youreach out.
Still unsure where to start? One conversation is enough — no forms first, no paperwork up front.
Talk to someoneWhere we serve
Roots in Ohio.Open to veterans everywhere.
Ohio is where we are building: our facilitators, our in-person programs, and the partnerships that make them run. Veterans in every other state are just as welcome — they join the same programs live by video, free of charge.
Start a conversationWhere we build
Ohio
Columbus is home base. All four programs meet in person there, year round — peer circles, coaching, workshops, and garden sessions.
- Columbus and surrounding counties
- Weekly evenings and weekends
- Community and partner events across Ohio
Welcome anywhere
Everywhere else
Veterans, family members, and caregivers in any state join the same live, facilitated groups on screen. Same facilitators, same curriculum, same small group.
- Live ReSet circles and ReEngage cohorts
- One-to-one conversations and referrals
- Any state, any branch, any era
Join the mission