Balanced Veterans Network

08/07/2026

🚨 Chicago veterans we need you to RSVP for Sunday🚨

The Budrista Club Veterans’ Education Session is happening this Sunday at Bud & Rita’s Avondale, and we need everyone planning to attend to RSVP.

📅 Sunday, August 9, 2026
⏰ 12 PM – 4 PM
📍 Bud and Rita's Avondale

Join the Budrista Club and Balanced Veterans Network for an afternoon focused on veteran wellness, education, and connection.

We’ll be talking about plant medicine, veterans’ rights, wellness, and resources available to the veteran community. There will also be light bites, educational sessions, and plenty of time to connect with other veterans.

If you’re coming, PLEASE RSVP so we can plan accordingly and make sure we’re prepared for everyone.

21+ ONLY. VALID ID REQUIRED FOR ENTRY.

RSVP and come spend the afternoon with us. We’d love to see you there!

https://www.budrista.club/event-calendar/budrista-club-veterans-education-session

08/06/2026

The Department of Veterans Affairs is reviving COVID-era benefits that connected homeless veterans with transportation and phones.

08/03/2026

VA has long been at the forefront of medical innovation. This new GLP-1 study is another step toward better understanding on how these medications can improve Veterans’ health.

07/10/2026

Protect yourself

PROTECT YOUR BENEFITS 🔒

Veterans who suspect they have experienced fraud can find out more at VSAFE.gov or by calling (833) 38V-SAFE.

06/18/2026

This is a major moment in the ongoing fight for common-sense cannabis policy and constitutional rights.

Today, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the federal government cannot automatically prosecute or disarm someone simply because they use ma*****na. In a 9-0 decision, the Court found that applying the federal firearm prohibition to a Texas ma*****na user violated his Second Amendment rights. The ruling doesn’t completely eliminate the law, but it significantly limits the government’s ability to treat cannabis consumers as inherently dangerous or strip them of constitutional protections solely because they use cannabis.

For years, millions of Americans have lived under a contradictory system where they could legally use cannabis under state law while simultaneously risking the loss of federal rights. Today’s decision is another step toward ending that inconsistency.

At Balanced Veterans Network, we’ve long believed veterans should not have to choose between the medicine that helps them and the rights they’ve earned through their service. This ruling acknowledges what many have argued for years: cannabis use alone does not automatically make someone a threat to themselves or others.

Progress rarely happens all at once. It happens one conversation, one study, one policy change, and one court decision at a time.

Today is a meaningful win 👏

The U.S. Supreme Court has unanimously sided with a man who was prosecuted for possessing a gun while being a regular consumer of ma*****na, ruling that the government’s actions violate the Second Amendment. The opinion authored by Justice Neil Gorsuch is narrow in scope and does not entirely stri...

06/18/2026

Meta is putting AI glasses directly into the hands of America’s blind veterans — for free.

The company says every eligible blind veteran in the U.S. can receive a pair of Ray-Ban Meta glasses, along with training to help them use the technology in daily life.

The technology can describe surroundings, read text aloud, and help users navigate everyday life—offering a new level of independence to those living with vision loss.

According to Meta, more than 130,000 American veterans are legally blind and will be eligible for Ray-Ban Meta glasses.

06/13/2026

One of the things Xavi found through Balanced Veterans Network wasn’t a program or a treatment. It was people.

People who understood the challenges of life after service. People who had faced their own struggles, setbacks, and transitions. People who were actively working to build healthy, meaningful lives and move forward.

That’s what community can do. It reminds us that we’re not alone in what we’re carrying.

At Balanced Veterans Network, we bring veterans together around growth, connection, and shared experience. We create spaces where people can learn from one another, support one another, and see what’s possible when others are doing the work to overcome obstacles and build a life they’re proud of.

Sometimes healing starts with a conversation. Sometimes it starts by finding people who simply get it.

For Xavi, that sense of belonging made all the difference.

Balance is built, not found.

06/11/2026

We had 53 people donate $2,630 to our Morgan Wallen pit ticket giveaway. Once again a sincere thank you to Jen and the team at Stoner Magazine and Savvy Custom Tees LLC for their generous donation of the tickets.

Congratulations to Erik Whitman!

Thank you to everyone who entered 🙏

06/07/2026

“I spent years trying to survive. Eventually, I needed to learn to live.”
— Xavi Vasquez

A lot of us wake up every day carrying old wounds, old stories, old excuses, and old fears. We tell ourselves we’re doing our best just to get through another day.

But eventually, there comes a moment when survival isn’t enough.

A moment when you have to decide whether you’re going to stay trapped by your past or start building a future.

Xavi’s journey wasn’t easy. Injury, isolation, pain, setbacks. Years of fighting battles most people never saw.

But this story isn’t about what happened to him.

It’s about what happened when he stopped letting those things define him.

No one is coming to save you. There is no magical breakthrough waiting around the corner.

The first step toward a better life is taking ownership of the one you have right now.

What’s one thing you’ve been blaming, avoiding, or allowing to keep you stuck?

Maybe it’s time to stop surviving and build a life worth living.