Wounded Warrior Project Announces Sixth Round of Grant Recipients

Washington DC/Jacksonville, FL (October 22, 2014) – Wounded Warrior Project^® (WWP), whose mission is to honor and empower Wounded Warriors, today announced it has awarded $2.3 million in grants to organizations also serving this generation of injured service members and their families. Since its inception in 2012, the WWP Grant Program has awarded grants to over 85 different organizations, totaling more than $9.1 million.

“The WWP Grant Program strategically and proactively addresses the biggest trends and issues facing this generation of injured veterans,” said Steve Nardizzi, CEO, Wounded Warrior Project. “To truly impact a generation of warriors, it takes the collaboration and commitment of many organizations to meet the unique needs of warriors and their families. Coordinating efforts helps to ensure this generation of injured veterans is the most successful and well-adjusted in our nation’s history.”  

The WWP Grant Program was created to bridge gaps in care and services by collaborating with nonprofits that provide high-quality, high-touch, unique programming to injured service members in remote or underserved regions. 

For this grant cycle, WWP prioritized funding within seven categories ranging from homelessness prevention to mental health provider training. The development of the funding priorities was informed by WWP’s Annual Alumni Survey, which has the most statistically relevant survey response and largest sample size of this population. By relying heavily on the Annual Alumni Survey to help identify the most significant reintegration challenges for injured service members and their families, the targeted funding process allowed WWP to directly seek organizations that provide programming in focus areas that injured veterans have identified as most important for their recovery and reintegration into their communities. 

“WWP’s Annual Alumni Survey data tells us where our warriors continue to struggle, allowing us to improve and strengthen our 20 programs and services, and identify gaps in existing services and support,” Nardizzi said. “Working with these excellent organizations that provide unique and highly specialized services, we are able to strengthen the resources that are available to injured veterans and their families and make greater strides in closing those gaps.”

In this sixth round of grants, WWP requested applications from organizations that seek to enhance the lives of injured veterans through programmatic activities aimed at reducing body mass index, preventing veteran homelessness, cultivating family resiliency and reintegration, providing vocational training, and improving the cultural competency of civilian community-based mental health care providers – all in an effort to help foster a healthy transition from military to civilian life. Interested organizations completed a letter of interest and were subsequently invited to submit a full application; those receiving funds were carefully vetted and chosen based on shared mission, core values, and focus in WWP’s four core program areas: engagement, mind, body, and economic empowerment. 

It is estimated that over 50,000 servicemen and women have been physically injured in recent military conflicts, another 320,000 have experienced a traumatic brain injury while on deployment, and as many as 400,000 additional service members live with the invisible wounds of war including combat-related stress, major depression, and posttraumatic stress disorder. 

This cycle’s grant recipients are: Connecticut Public Broadcasting; Dare2tri Paratriathlon Club; LaFrontera EMPACT-SPC; Minnesota Assistance Council for Veterans; The Military Family Research Institute at Purdue University; New York County Lawyers’ Association; National Association to Protect Children; Recovery Resource Council; Student Veterans of America; Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors; Team Red, White and Blue; United States Veterans Initiative; Vail Veterans Program; and Veterans OneStop Center of Western New York. For more information, and a description of the grant recipients, please visit 2014 WWP Grant Program.

To view the 2014 Annual Alumni Survey results, please visit 2014 Alumni Survey. 

About Wounded Warrior Project

Wounded Warrior Project is recognizing its ten-year anniversary, reflecting on a decade of service and reaffirming its commitment to serving injured veterans for their lifetime. The mission of Wounded Warrior Project is to honor and empower Wounded Warriors. WWP currently serves over 56,000 warriors and nearly 8,000 family members through its 20 unique programs and services. The purpose of WWP is to raise awareness and to enlist the public’s aid for the needs of injured service members, to help injured servicemen and women aid and assist each other, and to provide unique, direct programs and services to meet their needs. WWP is a national organization headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida. To get involved and learn more, visit woundedwarriorproject.org.