For six months, Heartfelt Community, a Gloucester-based nonprofit, provided massage therapy and Compassionate Touch to veterans living with dementia through a $5,000 Community Service Award from the Massage Therapy Foundation. The program, which began in January and concluded its grant period in September, served 11 veterans through twice-monthly visits from licensed massage therapists Ginger Spencer, Braea Wilke and Jasmine Sydnor. What began as an opportunity to honor veterans for their military service became something much deeper: an opportunity to build trust, ease physical discomfort, reduce anxiety and create meaningful moments of human connection. The Massage Therapy Foundation’s $5,000 award funded the project, with $4,400 supporting massage therapy services and $600 for project leadership. Although the grant period has ended, the work is continuing. Heartfelt Community plans to provide Compassionate Touch to eight veterans on a biweekly basis for as long as they need or desir...