Wounded Warrior Project ® Hosts First-Ever Grantee Reunion Summit

Washington, D.C. (February 3, 2015) – In continued pursuit of its vision to foster the most successful, well-adjusted generation of wounded services members in our nation’s history, Wounded Warrior Project^® (WWP) last week held its first-ever Grantee Reunion Summit. The grant recipients from WWP’s Program Grants Fall 2013 grant cycle, who collectively received over $2.2 million to help bridge gaps in care and services to injured veterans, came together to share best practices, lessons learned, and opportunities for continued collaboration. The summit served as a platform for networking, educating colleagues about charity organizations for veterans across the country, and fostering connections between the grantees. 

“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,” said Charlie Abell, executive vice president of Policy and Government Affairs at WWP. “Successfully securing a WWP grant is not the end of the process, but rather the beginning; our grantees must accept the responsibility, both to their veteran service organization peers and to the warriors and families they serve, to be open and transparent in the sharing of ideas that can help us all collectively provide better support and resources to our nation’s veterans – to adhere to the notion that a rising tide raises all boats.” 

Because of the support they received from WWP’s Program Grants, the Fall 2013 grant recipients were able to serve an additional 8,000 veterans and family members in their communities over the course of the grant year. The grants also supported the identification of new or unmet needs through outreach and feedback; the creation of pilot programs based on participant feedback and changes in warrior needs; the establishment of organizational credibility for lesser-known organizations; and the development of new outreach and recruitment efforts. 

Among the myriad achievements of these exceptional organizations, highlights include: 

• Dignity U Wear: Exceeded goal to serve 480 veterans through the Suits for Soldiers program, reaching 519 veterans. Through its Helping Homeless Heroes program, Dignity U Wear aimed to increase its clothing distribution by at least 50 percent; it was able to increase its distribution by 94 percent
• Patton Veterans Project: Served 135 veterans through I WAS THERE film workshops at military bases. Patton Veterans Project’s surveys were analyzed by psychology experts at Columbia University, and they discovered that warriors with a traumatic brain injury (TBI) in addition to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) showed strong signs of positive recovery. On average, these warriors reported a 20 percent reduction in PTSD symptoms. 
• Luke’s Wings: Exceeded goal to provide a minimum of 80 flights to families of injured warriors actively recovering across the country; within six months, Luke’s Wings provided 188 flights with the grant funds.

“Working with these excellent organizations that provide unique and highly specialized services, we are able to strengthen the resources that are available to wounded, ill, and injured veterans and their families and collectively make greater strides in closing those gaps,” Abell said. “WWP grant candidates go through a rigorous screening process, and we set very high goals for the exceptional organizations we choose to support. It is truly humbling and inspiring to see these organizations exceed those expectations in support of our mission to honor and empower Wounded Warriors.” 

For more information on WWP’s Program Grants, or to learn more about current or past grant recipients, please visit WWP Grant Program.

Wounded Warrior Project

Wounded Warrior Project® (WWP) has a vision of fostering the most successful, well-adjusted generation of wounded service members in our nation’s history. To achieve this objective, WWP is committed to a lifetime of service and commitment through its mission: to honor and empower Wounded Warriors. WWP currently serves more than 63,000 warriors and over 9,000 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 www.woundedwarriorproject.org.