A Maryville-based veterans nonprofit is expanding its reach across East Tennessee as more former service members seek help with needs that often fall outside what many people assume federal systems already cover.

Rocky Top Veterans Foundation, founded in 2020 by Chris Bryant, now operates across eight East Tennessee counties through volunteer-led outreach aimed at connecting veterans and their families to community support, benefits guidance and practical assistance.

Bryant said the organization grew out of a frustration he felt after years of giving through larger national organizations while seeing little visible impact close to home.

“I have always felt the need to serve,” Bryant said. “When my initial service ended, I continued giving through well-known organizations around the country. However, not seeing a difference in my own community always bothered me.”

That local focus became the foundation’s operating model: a fully volunteer-run organization with no salaries paid to leadership, board members or volunteers, relying primarily on community support rather than government grants.

The organization’s mission is to foster community, support and inclusivity among veterans and the communities where they live, but Bryant said one early gap became clear almost immediately: many younger veterans were not engaging in traditional veterans outreach settings.

Unlike older generations who often attend veterans breakfasts or daytime gatherings, many younger veterans are still working, raising children and managing family schedules.

That shaped how the foundation designed much of its outreach.

In 2025, Rocky Top Veterans Foundation hosted 29 free veteran dinner social events across eight East Tennessee counties, serving more than 1,000 veterans. It also certified 191 community members in suicide prevention techniques intended to help identify and respond when veterans appear to be in crisis.

The foundation also certified 18 East Tennessee businesses as Veteran Safe Places, meaning staff completed training designed to improve awareness and response when veterans seek support in public settings.

Other initiatives include sponsoring veterans living in assisted living facilities during holidays, organizing an annual baseball event for veterans and immediate family members, and helping veterans navigate benefits questions, which Bryant said remains one of the most common needs they encounter.

That practical assistance has increasingly overlapped with housing concerns.

Over the last year, Bryant said the organization has seen more veterans seeking help related to homelessness, home repair and delayed access to benefits.

He described one recent case involving an elderly veteran whose nephew reached out after discovering roommates had been taking advantage of the veteran’s Veterans Affairs benefits after he lost stable housing. The foundation provided temporary housing for three weeks while family members and a local agency worked to secure permanent placement.

Bryant said that type of case reflects one of the most persistent public misconceptions surrounding veterans after military service.

“Most people in the community have the same misconception,” he said. “They usually believe that a man or woman who has served their country is taken care of by the government or the VA in particular. As you know, that is not always the case.”

Most referrals come directly from veterans or families contacting the organization, though some also come through Veterans Affairs counselors, particularly when veterans need encouragement to reconnect socially through local events.

Bryant said veterans who call the foundation do not reach an answering service.

“They get me,” he said.

The organization funds most of its work through community support, including its annual Bourbon & Bowties gala fundraiser and a second annual event supporting Wreaths Across America.

As housing pressure and benefits confusion continue affecting veterans across parts of East Tennessee, organizations like Rocky Top Veterans Foundation increasingly fill a space between formal systems and immediate local need, often before those needs become visible elsewhere.

Det. Brandon Burley (Ret.), M.P.A., is a criminal justice educator whose academic work focuses on reducing recidivism through public policy. He has authored several criminal justice books and has been published in national law enforcement publications.

Follow Detective Burley on Facebook.

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