Cindy Archibald ’17 gives new mission to veterans

After completing military service, many veterans return home with a desire to continue serving. An organization called Veterans Base Camp, led by Eastern alumna Cindy Archibald ’17, has been established to help veterans fulfill this sense of mission post-military.  

“It doesn’t end when they leave,” said Archibald of veterans’ engrained desire to serve. As executive director, she describes Veterans Base Camp as “a home between here and there,” where veterans receive housing and support as they work on the issues that brought them to the camp in the first place.  

Located in rural eastern Connecticut, the nonprofit organization operates a food pantry and vegetable garden to support food-insecure community members. It was recently awarded $25,000 from the Lipinski Rural Initiatives Award by Farm Credit Northeast to construct a greenhouse to grow its gardening program.  

This development will provide more opportunities for veterans and college students alike, as Veterans Base Camp often enlists the help of Eastern interns. Archibald studied social work at Eastern, where she learned an “ecological approach” to the field and the importance of considering the “impact of a person’s whole environment.” 

Archibald synthesizes this philosophy into a “strength-based approach” to helping veterans flourish in the aftermath of service. In this approach, she helps veterans get “hooked on pursuing their passions” rather than fixating on their deficits, she said. 

One veteran has become a photographer in his time at the camp, while another recently got his coaching certificate for high school soccer. Yet another has taken an interest in business and plans to buy a comic book store. 

Archibald has become familiar with the struggles facing veterans. “War and combat change their worldview,” she said. “The drama of everyday life as a civilian confuses and annoys them when they have lived the reality that a ‘good day’ is when no one dies.”  

Veterans Base Camp also holds clothing and toy drives for families of veterans, as well as the “Backpacks for Life” initiative, which provides military-grade backpacks to homeless veterans. This April, the camp hosted David’s Race, a fundraiser in memory of David Guy, a former Marine and resident of Veterans Base Camp. Following his military service, Guy’s wife and two young daughters were killed by a drunk driver.  

“When I met David in March of 2022, he was 82 years old and living in a motel because he was homeless,” said Archibald. In a TV interview concerning his move to Veterans Base Camp, Guy said, “This is home, and every veteran should have one.”