Breaking Ground on Our Future
On April 25, 2026, surrounded by Warriors & Quiet Waters (WQW) Built for More Alumni, Board of Directors and National Advisory Board, team members, and Capital Campaign supporters, WQW officially broke ground on a new 14-bedroom Guesthouse at Quiet Waters Ranch (QWR). This milestone has been years in the making and is a major step forward in our mission to double the number of post-9/11 combat veterans we can serve through the Built for More program by 2030.
But this moment was never just about constructing a building.
It was about creating space for transformation, belonging, and purpose. It was about expanding the organization’s ability to meet a growing and urgent need among veterans navigating life after military service.
“This is more than a building. It’s a force multiplier for our mission,” said WQW CEO Brian Gilman, USMC Colonel (Retired), during the groundbreaking ceremony.
For nearly two decades, WQW has empowered post-9/11 combat veterans and their loved ones to thrive through immersive experiences in nature, and for the past three years, has been serving Warriors through evidence-based programming designed to foster growth, discovery, connection, and purpose. This all happens through the nine-month program, Built for More. A transformative journey that enables veterans to rediscover their identity after service, to rebuild purpose and mission, and to reconnect with a community that gets it.
Demand for the program continues to far exceed WQW’s capacity to serve every veteran that applies. More than 1,500 veterans remain on the waitlist for Built for More, and applications currently outpace available spots by nearly three to one.
The new Guesthouse at QWR is designed to help change that.
The facility will include 14 bedrooms, six of them ADA-accessible, allowing WQW to serve more Warriors in each Built for More program, and for every volunteer and guide supporting the program to stay on-site alongside program participants. Expanded lodging and dedicated facilitation spaces will allow WQW to increase cohort sizes and host more annual programs while preserving the deeply personal nature of the experience.
“These are rooms designed from the ground up for the kind of conversations that change a person’s life,” Gilman shared during the ceremony. “Where identity gets rebuilt. Where tribes are created. And where purpose is crafted.”
The project also reflects the organization’s commitment to stewardship. Designed to achieve LEED Platinum certification, the building will incorporate significant reductions in water and energy use, solar integration, and rainwater retention systems.
Reaching this moment, however, required years of persistence and collective effort.
During his remarks, Gilman reflected on the long road from concept to groundbreaking, a process that included design revisions, permit challenges, county meetings, and countless decisions behind the scenes.
“Five years,” he said. “And we are finally here.”
That journey was made possible by a dedicated community of supporters, including the WQW Board of Directors, the Building Committee, design and construction partners, staff, and donors who invested in the vision long before the first shovel entered the ground.
“To all forty-five donors who have gotten us to this point,” Gilman said, “please know what your investment represents. It is not a building. It is Warriors who will walk through those doors and find their way back to themselves.”
While the groundbreaking marked an important milestone, it also served as a reminder that the work is far from finished.
“There are Warriors waiting,” Gilman told attendees.
And now, thanks to the vision and generosity of a committed community, WQW is building the capacity to meet them with the life-changing support they deserve.
Thirty years from now, the veterans who walk through the doors of this building may never know the names of the people who made it possible.
“But they will feel what you did,” Gilman said.
That is the legacy now taking shape at Quiet Waters Ranch.