Resources

Wounded Service Members

• Aid & Attendance and House Bound Benefits This article explains eligibility and the application process for Aid & Attendance and House Bound Benefits for service members.
• Air Compassion for Veterans The mission and purpose of Air Compassion For Veterans is to ensure that no financially-stressed wounded warrior / veteran / active duty military person or their family member(s) is denied access to distant specialized medical evaluation, diagnosis, treatment, or rehabilitation for lack of a means of long-distance medical air transportation.  ACV is committed to the ongoing healing process of our wounded warriors and will provide transport for activities that aid in the process as long as needed.
• America's Heroes at Work A U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) project that addresses the employment challenges of returning service members living with Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and/or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).   Designed for employers and the workforce development system, this Web site is your link to information and tools to help returning service members affected by TBI and/or PTSD succeed in the workplace - particularly service members returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.
• Army Wounded Warrior Program The Army Wounded Warrior Program (AW2) is the official U.S. Army program that assists and advocates for severely wounded, injured, and ill Soldiers, Veterans, and their Families, wherever they are located, for as long as it takes. AW2 provides individualized support to this unique population of Soldiers, who were injured or became ill during their service in the Global War on Terrorism.
• Canine Companions for Independence Through their Wounded Veterans Initiative, Canine Companions for Independence provides assistance dogs to veterans with physical disabilities resulting from military service. The dogs and vets are matched together, based on a number of factors and then they attend a two-week intensive training program where they learn how to work together.
  
• Coming Home Project The Coming Home Project is a non-profit organization devoted to providing compassionate expert care, support, education, and stress management tools for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, service members, their families, and their service providers. We are a multidisciplinary, experienced team of psychotherapists, veterans and interfaith leaders committed to helping transform the wounds of war.
• Computer/Electronic Accommodations Program (CAP) CAP provides needs assessments, assistive technology, and training to our nation’s wounded service members throughout all phases of recovery and the transition to employment.
• Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center (DVBIC) The mission of the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center (DVBIC) is to serve active duty military, their beneficiaries, and veterans with traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) through state-of-the-art clinical care, innovative clinical research initiatives and educational programs.  DVBIC fulfills this mission through ongoing collaboration with military, VA and civilian health partners, local communities, families and individuals with TBI.
• Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury (DCoE) DCoE assesses, validates, oversees and facilitates prevention, resilience, identification, treatment, outreach, rehabilitation, and reintegration programs for psychological health (PH) and traumatic brain injury (TBI) to ensure the Department of Defense meets the needs of the nation's military communities, warriors and families.
• Disabled American Veterans Made up exclusively of men and women disabled in our nation’s defense, Disabled American Veterans is dedicated to one, single purpose — building better lives for all of our nation’s disabled veterans and their families.
• Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities Training in entrepreneurship and business management to Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines disabled as a result of their service to their country.
• Faces of Honor The purpose of Faces of Honor is to offer pro bono medical and surgical expertise to veterans who were deployed in Iraq or Afghanistan and received face or neck injuries. Our motivation is simple: provide a "thank you" to the brave men and women who have served our country so well by offering what we have worked hard to achieve, our surgical expertise and skills as caring physicians.
• Fisher House Fisher House™ Foundation provides a "Home Away from Home" near military medical centers for families experiencing a personal medical crisis and is one of the premiere quality of life organizations supporting military families. They are also proud to administer and sponsor Scholarships for Military Children, the Hero Miles program, and co-sponsor the Newman's Own Award.
• Freedom Service Dogs Freedom Service Dogs (FSD) is a nonprofit organization that rescues dogs from shelters and custom trains them to assist people with disabilities, providing lifetime support to ensure the success of the team and increasing the independence, endurance, and peace of mind of our clients.  VA recently partnered with this organization and VA hospitals nationwide are integrating service dogs into treatment plans for disabled veterans.
  
• Handbook for Injured Service Members and their Families The Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund and the Wounded Warrior Project have designed this handbook to assist injured service members and their families by providing information about what lies ahead, an overview of resources at their disposal, and a discussion of certain issues they are likely to confront.
• Helping A Hero Helping A Hero is a non-profit, non-partisan organization created to fund programs and services which will provide financial, emotional, educational, mentoring, recreational and scholarship support for severely injured military personnel and their families.
• Homes for Our Troops Homes for Our Troops is a national non-profit, non-partisan 501(c)(3) organization strongly committed to helping those who have selflessly given to our country and have returned home with serious disabilities and injuries since September 11, 2001. They assist severely injured Servicemen and Servicewomen and their immediate families by raising donations of money, building materials and professional labor and coordinate the process of building a home that provides maximum freedom of movement and the ability to live more independently.  The homes provided by Homes for Our Troops are given at NO COST to the Veterans we serve.
• Hope For The Warriors The mission of Hope for the Warriors™ is to enhance quality of life for US Service Members and their families nationwide who have been adversely affected by injuries or death in the line of duty. Hope for the Warriors™ actively seeks to ensure that the sacrifices of wounded and fallen warriors and their families are never forgotten nor their needs unmet, particularly with regard to the short and long-term care of the severely injured.
• Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund The Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund provides financial assistance and quality of life solutions for Marines, Sailors and other military personnel assigned to Marine Forces, injured in post 9-11 combat, training, or with life threatening illnesses, and their families. Our fund provides relief for immediate financial needs that arise during hospitalization and recovery as well as perpetuating needs such as home modifications, customized transportation and specialized equipment.
• National Center for PTSD The National Center for PTSD (NCPTSD) aims to advance the clinical care and social welfare of U.S. Veterans through research, education and training on PTSD and stress-related disorders.
• National Organization on Disability The mission of the National Organization on Disability (NOD) is to expand the participation and contribution of America’s 54 million men, women and children with disabilities in all aspects of life.
• National Resource Directory The National Resource Directory (NRD) is an online tool for wounded, ill and injured Service Members, Veterans, their families, and those who support them. The NRD provides access to more than 11,000 services and resources at the national, state and local levels that support recovery, rehabilitation and community reintegration.
• Navy Safe Harbor Navy Safe Harbor is the Navy's lead organization for providing non-medical care to seriously wounded, ill, and injured Sailors, Coast Guardsmen, and their families. Safe Harbor works to address pay and personnel issues, invitational travel orders for caregivers, housing and lodging arrangements, child and youth programs, recreation and leisure programs, transportation needs, education and training benefits, support services, and much more.
• NINDS Traumatic Brain Injury Information Page Information and resources on Traumatic Brain Injury provided by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.
• Not Alone Not Alone started in 2008 when a group of warriors and professionals discovered a significant gap in the government's capacity to help warriors and their families come home from war. There needed to be a confidential online community where those warriors could congregate to help each other. Our personal experiences with war trauma led us to reach out to those that need help.
• Operation Comfort Warriors Operation Comfort Warriors is a program of the American Legion dedicated to meeting the non-medical needs of wounded military personnel, providing them with comfort items not usually supplied by health care. OCW ensures that patients at U.S. military hospitals and warrior transition are given items like sweat suits, DVDs, puzzles, electronic devices, books, calling cards and more.
• Operation First Response The Mission of Operation First Response, Inc (OFR) is to support our nation's wounded Heroes and their families with personal and financial needs.
• Operation: Music Aid A non-profit organization whose mission is to secure musical instruments of all types in order to help aid in the rehabilitation of our valiant men and women who have been wounded while serving their country. Keyboards, guitars, and other musical instruments will be provided to the military hospitals, where our American heroes are rehabilitating. 100% of all donations go to the purchase of musical instruments for our severely wounded heroes.
• Pets for Vets The Pets for Vets program is dedicated to providing a second chance for shelter pets by rescuing, training and pairing them with America’s veterans who want a companion animal.  Our goal is to bring together man’s best friend and our returning soldiers while showing them both that we have not forgotten.  Every veteran who is able to care for an animal is eligible to receive a Pets for Vets companion animal.  The program currently serves Southern California but is expanding to other cities in the near future.
  
• Pets2Vets The mission of Pets2Vets is to pair homeless pets with combat veterans, law enforcement/emergency personnel, and those affected by PTSD in order to:  help our nation's heroes and their families with rehabilitation through pet therapy, save sheltered pets from being euthanized by providing them with homes and raise public awareness of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
  
• PleuralMesothelioma.com PleuralMesothelioma.com offers free assistance to veterans filing a VA claim who believe they have developed the disease due to asbestos exposure during their military service.  To speak with someone in our Veterans Assistance Department please call 1-800-615-2270 or visit us online.
• Project Blueberry at Veterans Farm Our mission is to help disabled combat veterans reintegrate back into society through the use of horticulture therapy, while working together in a relaxed, open environment. Veterans will work as a team to develop solutions that will enable them to overcome physical and mental barriers.
• Quilts of Valor Foundation The mission of the QOV Foundation is to cover ALL war wounded and injured servicemembers and veterans from the War on Terror, whether physical and/or psychological wounds, with Wartime Quilts called Quilts of Valor (QOVS).
• ReMind.org ReMIND.org is a movement of the Bob Woodruff Foundation that educates the public about the needs of injured service members, veterans and their families as they reintegrate into their communities and empowers people everywhere to take action.
• Social Security Benefits for Wounded Warriors Military service members can receive expedited processing of disability claims from Social Security. Benefits available through Social Security are different than those from the Department of Veterans Affairs and require a separate application.
• Special Operations Warrior Foundation The Special Operations Warrior Foundation  provides full scholarship grants and educational and family counseling to the surviving children of special operations personnel who die in operational or training missions and immediate financial assistance to severely wounded special operations personnel and their families.
• Standup4Vets Stand Up For Veterans is an advocacy campaign of the Disabled American Veterans. Its purpose is to generate greater public awareness and support for strengthening federal policies that provide health care assistance to disabled veterans injured in the recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as those from prior eras and conflicts.
• The Mission Continues The Mission Continues was built on the belief that our returning wounded should be recognized not only for the sacrifices they have made, but for everything they have left to give. We award fellowships to empower wounded and disabled veterans to serve in their communities. In doing so, we send the message: "We still need you."  America owes these men and women a great deal, but as a nation, we have much left to learn from them. While injury may have changed the nature of their service, their mission continues, and it is as important as ever.
• Travis Manion Foundation The Foundation's mission is to assisted wounded Veterans and the families of Fallen Heroes.  We will continue the service to community and country exemplified by these Fallen Heroes and Veterans.  In the spirit of the Fallen, we will foster strength of mind and body to create a generation of future leaders. 
• USA Together At USA Together, our mission is to use the power of the Internet to help the men and women of the US military who have suffered life-altering injuries in service to their country.  By publishing specific needs for goods, financial assistance and services, we hope to connect injured service members and their families with those who are willing and able to assist them.
• VA - Disability Compensation
• VA - Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment
• Warrior Care In support of our greatest asset - You - many different resources have been developed for Warrior Care.  These resources range from specific programs to sources of information. All play a role in ensuring you get the assistance to which you are entitled.  WarriorCare.mil serves as a portal to these various resources. Whether you are currently active-duty military, veteran, a family member or a concerned neighbor, the links on this site will provide answers to your questions or ideas for where to turn next.
• Welcome Back Veterans Welcome Back Veterans (WBV) was created to inspire Americans to give back to our returning veterans and their families. These heroes were there when we needed them--they served us all and kept us safe--and it's our turn to be there for them. WBV is committed to transforming the lives of our returning veterans by changing the way people think and talk about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) while providing ongoing treatment for veterans and their families in addition to funding research.
• Wounded Warrior Pay Support Team The mission of the Wounded Warrior Pay Support Team is to provide accurate, real-time financial support to service members who are medically evacuated as a result of wounds, disease, or injury incurred while serving in a combat zone.
• Wounded Warrior Project The mission of the Wounded Warrior Project is to honor and empower wounded warriors.  The organization's purpose is:   to raise awareness and enlist the public’s aid for the needs of severely injured service men and women; to help severely injured service members aid and assist each other; and to provide unique, direct programs and services to meet the needs of severely injured service members.
  
• Wounded Warrior Regiment The Wounded Warrior Regiment's mission is to provide and facilitate assistance to wounded/injured/ill Marines, Sailors attached to or in support of Marine units, and their family members throughout the phases of recovery.
• Wounded Warrior Resource Center The Wounded Warrior Resource Center Web site (WWRC) is a Department of Defense Web site which provides wounded Service Members, their families, and caregivers with information they need on military facilities, health care services, and benefits. It supports access to the Wounded Warrior Resource Call Center and trained specialists who are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week by phone at 1-800-342-9647 or by e-mail at wwrc@militaryonesource.com.
• Wounded Warriors Support Sometimes the best support is from someone who has walked in your shoes.  Wounded Warriors Support Group - Where we can share ideas, lean on one another, and embrace hope for the future of our families.
• Yellow Ribbon Fund, Inc. Created in early 2005, the Yellow Ribbon Fund assists injured service members and their families while they recuperate at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center and the National Naval Medical Center.  The organization provides assistance with lodging, meals, transportation, meals and community activities for the families they serve.