After a stint serving as an infantry officer ended with 12 of his fellow servicemen dying in a helicopter crash, Karl Monger returned back to civilian life without a sure path of where to go next. He noticed a lack of resources for veterans in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex where he could make connections with the local community.

In 2010, he founded the nonprofit GallantFew, an organization that provides transition assistance and veteran support to service members who are transitioning out and have left the military. To date, they have provided almost 13,000 services and helped almost 6,500 veterans.

“[The accident] set in motion a sequence of events that caused me to leave the military, and for the next eight years, I kind of disconnected from anybody that I knew there,” Monger said. “Our burden became, ‘How do we get them connected?’ And then as issues start arising, ‘How do we resolve those issues?’”

The basis for how the nonprofit operates is they have veterans take what is called the GallantFew Azimuth Check. The self-assessment tool gives veterans a one through 10 rating emotionally, physically, spiritually, professionally and socially. Whichever area they score the lowest in is where the nonprofit can start talking about what the next steps are to help.

A highlight of GallantFew is the way they connect veterans to the community. One such program is indoor rock climbing for veterans in Grapevine and Plano. This event happens weekly on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, and the nonprofit covers any fees that occur. Through bonding over trusting each other while rock climbing, the veterans are able to reclaim their self confidence and transition back into the community.

“One of the biggest problems that I see in military transition is isolation. It's leaving the military and feeling guilt and shame about what you did or didn't do,” Monger said. “What we've seen with veterans is when they come [rock climb], it increases their self esteem, their self image and their self confidence. It improves their physical fitness, but now they're starting to communicate.”

The nonprofit also helped found the Metroport Veteran Association, an informal group in the Southlake Roanoke area that meets once a month to hear a story from a veteran. By sharing stories with their peers, the veterans are better able to connect with each other.

Having a smaller nonprofit in the community truly allows for its members to feel supported and feel like they know someone who understands what veterans have been through, and can help make positive choices in their lives after leaving the military.

“We're a small organization that has global reach, and because we're doing individual one-on-one things, we get into an intimate relationship with a client veteran very quickly,” Monger said.

For the month of November, the group is co-hosting a Veterans Day celebration from 11 a.m.-noon on Nov. 11 with Trophy Club at Veterans Memorial Park at Independence Park West, 501 Parkview Drive. More events put on by GallantFew can be found here, along with other resources. Community members can get involved by learning more on their website.