THE COMMUNITY YOU LOST WHEN YOU CAME HOME? WE REBUILT IT.
Veterans. Military families. Civilians who show up. Built around recreation, fitness, outdoor adventure, and the belief that belonging doesn't end when service does.
Member Portal
The Ranks
A community built on showing up. Earn your place. Rise through the tiers. Carry the mission forward.
SERVICE
Veterans / Active Duty / Guard / Reserve
LEGACY
Military Family / Dependents
ALLY
Civilians / Supporters
Coming Soon
EDC Outdoors
Get outside. Stay connected.
On base, recreation wasn't something you planned. It was built into the culture. EDC Outdoors brings it back — monthly outdoor adventures for veterans, decided each month. The activity is the excuse. The people are the point.
Series
Community Action
We don't just build community. We serve it.
Recurring service events — neighborhood cleanups, tree planting, park restoration, Veterans Day and Memorial Day service activations. Every service event ends the same way: we do the work, then we stay and celebrate it together.
- Neighborhood cleanups
- Tree planting & green initiatives
- Park and green space restoration
- Veterans Day community service activation (Annual — November)
- Memorial Day service activation (Annual — May)
Programming
Fitness & Recreation
The base had a gym. So do we. Community WODs, group fitness events, the MURPH Festival, and the #CarryTheChange 22-Mile Challenge. EDC keeps the community active, competing, and showing up for each other — because the best accountability partner is someone who gets it.
Coming Soon
Peer Connect
Structured peer support that pairs veterans with others who've walked the same road. Not therapy. Not a hotline. Real people who get it — showing up for each other, consistently. Because sometimes the person who can help the most is someone who's been where you are.
Every EDC event ends the same way — together.
Whether we've just finished a ruck, cleaned up a park, or handed out backpacks to 500 kids — we stay. We eat, we laugh, and we connect. That's not the afterparty. That's the whole point.
Partnership
Strategic Alignment
EDC Founder Damian Garcia serves as a Travis Manion Foundation Chicago Chapter Leader — bringing TMF's national volunteer network and programming into Chicago alongside EDC's own work. Two organizations. One mission. Shared impact.
Travis Manion Foundation is one of the country's leading veteran service organizations, built around the belief that veterans and families of the fallen are uniquely positioned to strengthen communities and develop character in future generations.
YOUR PLACE IS HERE.
Whether you served, grew up in a military family, or just believe that community is worth fighting for — there's a place for you here.