Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS) is a U.S. non-profit organization that provides care and support to families and friends grieving the loss of a member of the armed forces.
TAPS was founded in 1994 by Bonnie Carroll after her husband and 7 others were killed in a plane crash in Alaska. Since 1994 TAPS has conducted National Military Survivor Seminars and “Good Grief Camps". In 2007 TAPS 18 regional grief seminars and “Good Grief Camps” around the country at locations including Camp Lejeune, Fort Campbell, Kentucky, Camp Pendleton, New York City, Fort Hood, Fort Carson, and Fort Drum. TAPS also holds a national seminar each year in Washington DC which features three days of workshops and information for survivors.
The mission of TAPS is to provide ongoing emotional help, hope, and healing to all who are grieving the death of a loved one in military service to America. TAPS is committed to providing compassionate care to all military survivors regardless of their relationship to the deceased or the circumstances or geography of the death. This is done through long-term, peer-based emotional support, crisis response and intervention, casualty casework assistance, and grief and trauma resources and information.