Home Base Program
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The Home Base Program is a nonprofit organization based in Boston, Massachusetts, and has its headquarters in Charlestown, Massachusetts. The Home Base Program was founded in 2009 through a collaboration between Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and the Red Sox Foundation, the official team charity of the Boston Red Sox.[1] The program has supported over 50,000 members and families, as well as raised over $48 million to support help programs and services since its founding. [2][3]
Service
History
Red Sox management, owners, and players, as well as MGH representatives, took a trip to Bethesda, Maryland, to visit Walter Reed National Military Medical Center after the Red Sox won the World Series in 2004 and 2007. Many of these peole shared time with hospitalized veterans from Afghanistan and Iraq. After the visit, the Red Sox organization wanted to make a commitment to help veterans and their families when returning home. Following guidance from those at MGH, the Department of Defense, Veteran Affairs, and Senator Edward M. Kennedy, the Home Base Program was developed. [6]
Home Base has since grown from Boston by offering clinical help in Texas and having a national and international reach.[7] The organization is expanding further, as Home Base Arizona is in the works.[8]
Programs
Home Base offers a variety of clinical care options for veterans, service members, and their families, including:
- National Intensive Care Program (ICP): A treatment program helping to mitigate brain injuries, mental illnesses, and substance abuse condensed into two weeks. This program is offered to veterans and their families, as well as a special program for the families of the fallen. [9]
- Comprehensive Brain Health and Trauma Program is a program designed specifically for special operation service members. It involves care coordination, treatment, and evaluations. [9]
- Regional Outpatient Clinical Care: An in-person and telephone-provided care system for veterans, service members, and their families in areas in Massachusetts and Florida, and set to be available in Arizona when Home Base Arizona has opened. [9]
- Warrior Health & Fitness: A supervised health and fitness program that focuses on the total healing process for veterans and their families.[9]
- Training in Under-Resourced Communities: A program to help train clinicians and first responder volunteers, aiming specifically to advance health centers caring for Black and Native American veterans. [9]
- Innovation & Finding New Treatments: A research program through Mass General Brigham, Harvard University, and national partners working to further develop the programs at Home Base.[9]
Events
These healthcare options, which are free to participants, are funded through events put on by Home Base, including:
- Run To Home Base: A 9k or 5k run/walk fundraiser that allows individuals or groups to donate and raise money to help fund care for veterans, service members, and their families. The run starts outside of Fenway Park in Boston, on Jersey Street (Boston), and ends with participants crossing home plate within Fenway Park. There is also a virtual option, for participants to contribute globally, without making the trip to Boston. The event had over 3,000 runners and raised over $3.6 million in 2025.[10][11]
- "Helping Veteran Heal" Telethon: An event that runs from 4:30 AM to 8:00 PM EST on WCVB spreading awareness and stories of the care and support provided by Home Base. The event is held once a year, typically around Veterans Day.
- Memorial Day Flag Garden: Volunteers, along with representatives from the Massachusetts Military Heroes Fund and Home Base, plant 37,000+ American flags at the Soldiers and Sailors Monument in Boston to honor service members who have died since the Revolutionary War. [12][13]
Partners
Since its founding in 2009, Home Base has grown from being supported by Massachusetts General Hospital and the Red Sox Foundation to having a large outreach to groups that further back and support the program's cause. The organization's large partners include the Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, the Blue Angels Foundation, Fisher House Foundation, Navy SEAL Foundation, SEAL Legacy Foundation, Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), Welcome Back Veterans, and the Wounded Warrior Project.[14] The program also works with several state and government agencies, including support from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, George W. Bush Institute's Veteran Wellness Alliance, Massachusetts Department of Veterans' Services, State of Florida, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Boston Healthcare System, and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs National Center for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Home Base is also a part of the Warrior Care Network, a network program designed to help veterans and service members find mental health support after their service.[15][16][17][18]