mission
InDependent makes wellness accessible and creates opportunities for all military spouses to connect for friendship, accountability, and inspiration.
vision
We envision a time when all military spouses thrive through connection to community and resources that results in healthy decision-making for themselves and their families.
roots
InDependent is a wellness community built by military spouses for military spouses of all branches of the U.S. Armed Forces. To impact the heart of the home is to influence the wellness of our service members and future generations.
Founded in 2013 by Kimberly Bacso, Michele Bradfield, Leslie Brians, Joy Chalmers, and Meg Gotheridge — five military spouses who saw a need in the military community for a social wellness program tailored to spouses and sought to fill it.
Fiscally-sponsored program of Heluna Health, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization (formerly known as PHFE) from 2013-2018.
InDependent, Inc. merged with The Other Side of Service (OSS) to become a stand-alone 501(c)(3) non-profit organization in 2018. We are grateful to the OSS board for their generosity and belief in our mission.
programs
We offer a positive and inclusive community platform for military spouses to connect through virtual wellness programs and resources, including:
The annual virtual InDependent Wellness Summit™ which has been attended by over 8,000 military spouses from all branches since its creation in 2015. The summit brings subject matter experts together with military spouses for a week of wellness made easy, including podcast interviews, daily intention-setting, cooking demos, workouts, private interactions and accountability, fun giveaways, and more.
Wellness Unfiltered™ is a multifaceted program addressing the tougher, harder-to-discuss wellness topics affecting military spouses. This program is our commitment to create dialog, connect you to experts, and provide a formal structure to boldly address the areas of wellness that we all want to have conversations about, but sometimes don’t want to bring up.
Deep dive topics from the InDependent Wellness Summit™ through exclusive programming and engagement in our Wellness Lounge™.
Themed Blog Posts and Wellness Wednesday Spotlights promoting healthy lifestyles relevant to military life provided by inspirational military spouse volunteers.
Our newest program, Fuel the Homefront, launched in March 2022. It is currently being piloted in Alaska, but if you are not located there you can request a workshop here.
“At InDependent, we believe that with the right structure and environment, healthy behavior can be contagious. The platform we’ve created is designed for military spouses, by military spouses, in the hope of supporting individual change.”
Want to talk about InDependent on your website, blog, or press release? Here is where you will find a collection of relevant assets that should make your job easier.
stats
InDependent is the host of the annual InDependent Wellness Summit. Since its creation in 2015, this annual virtual summit has been attended by over 5.8K military and first responder spouses from all military and service branches, living all over the world.
Launched in March 2017 a now monthly "Wellness Spotlight" series with the goal of sharing the health and wellness stories of military spouses worldwide.
InDependent partners with more than 100 military spouse contributors & organizations to offer relatable health and wellness blog content.
InDependent offers a private, military spouse-only Facebook community groups for spouses located worldwide. The broader social media following exceeds 10,000.
Named by Next Gen MilSpouse as one of the 6 Groups Advocating for Military Spouses You Need to Know and 6 Awesome Online Communities for Military Spouses by Military One Click
seen on
blog disclaimer
The information provided on this site is intended to serve as an educational resource and should not replace qualified medical or legal advice. The content is not meant to replace the role of professional attorney, physician, or other applicable professional. It is provided with the understanding that InDependent is not engaged in rendering any professional service nor any legal advice nor any medical advice. Mention of agencies or professionals does not imply endorsement. Use of professionals, agencies or individuals mentioned should be researched by those choosing to use them. Research all resources carefully before hiring or purchasing.