Growth & Opportunity Fund

Mentorship pairings, career-transition support, and education stipends that carry veterans and military families into what comes after service. The hardest part of getting out is deciding what comes next. This fund pays for the help.

What your gift deploys:

Certification and licensing stipends
Mentor recruitment and training
Resume, interview, and entrepreneur clinics
Benefits and resource navigation

ABOUT ESPRIT DE CORPS FOUNDATION

We looked for this community.
We couldn't find it. So we built it.

Veteran-Led • Chicago-Based • 501(c)(3)

Esprit de corps — the shared spirit, pride, and bond that holds a unit together. That feeling should not disappear when the uniform comes off.

Founded in January 2025 by U.S. Army veteran Damian Garcia (President) and U.S. Marine Corps veteran Rogelio Villa (Vice President), Esprit de Corps Foundation builds community for veterans, service members, military families, dependents, and student veterans in Chicago through fitness, wellness, advocacy, and leadership.

We came home and felt the gap. The team was gone. The routine was gone. The sense of belonging that made everything make sense — gone. So we built something to bring it back. Not just for us, but for every veteran, military spouse, and student veteran who has ever felt that silence.

What we wanted was simple: a place with the energy of a YMCA and the soul of a USO — somewhere active, welcoming, and always open, where veterans can be themselves, military families feel seen, and civilians who care can show up and belong.

Not a program. Not a support group. A home.

Esprit de Corps Foundation team

Why We Exist

480,513 · Veterans in Illinois | 60,766 · Veterans in Chicago | 25%+ · Volunteer regularly

Illinois is home to nearly half a million veterans; Chicago alone has more than sixty thousand. More than one in four continues serving through volunteering. The Foundation runs the programs where that service to the community continues.

What We Do

Our flagship event, the annual MURPH Festival, brings together hundreds every Memorial Day weekend for a full day of fitness, live music, food, veteran resources, and remembrance honoring those who gave everything in service.

We partner with organizations like Chicago Fire FC and the University of Illinois Chicago to create events that put veterans back in the center of their communities — not on the sidelines.

Monthly gatherings, fitness events, resource connections, and community partnerships keep the momentum going year-round. This is not a once-a-year thing. This is a movement.

Esprit de Corps Foundation community event

Where We Are Going

Everything we do is building toward one goal: the Esprit de Corps Campus — a permanent home for the Chicago veteran community. One building, two purposes: a full fitness and recreation center open to the entire community, and a home for those who served.

A place to train. A place to decompress. A place to find employment support, education guidance, benefits assistance, wellness services, and peer connection — all under one roof, with people who understand.

Chicago is where it starts — it won't stop here.
The long-term vision is a national network of Esprit de Corps Campuses in cities across the country, each a permanent home for its local veteran community.

How You Help

Every donation, ticket, and sponsorship goes directly toward our events, year-round programming, and building the Esprit de Corps Campus. There is no corporate overhead. No middleman. This is a grassroots mission run by veterans who put every dollar to work.

When you give here, you are not just writing a check. You are helping build a space that will serve veterans and families for generations.

BUILT BY VETERANS.

DRIVEN BY COMMUNITY.

Growth & Opportunity Fund

Careers, education, and next chapters.