Our Approach
The Bob Woodruff Foundation targets the challenges our military families face after their service member has been injured in Iraq or Afghanistan and is reintegrating back into their community by finding and funding the best and most effective programs and partnering with them to maximize results and ensure that our injured heroes and their families have successful futures.
Invest
The Bob Woodruff Foundation serves injured service members, veterans and their families, and the caregivers and communities who support them. We navigate a maze of more than 40,000 nonprofits serving post-9/11 veterans to find, fund and shape innovative programs meeting challenges in three key areas:
Education and Employment: Fellowships,Campus Transition, Career Evaluation and Exploration, Mentoring, Vocational and Job Training, Business Ownership and Entrepreneurship
Rehabilitation and Recovery: Mental health and suicide prevention, Substance abuse programs, Adaptive solutions, Pain management, Alternative therapies, Health and wellness, Long-term healthcare,
Quality of Life: Housing, Financial Health, Family and Community Relationships, Recreation, Respite and Socialization, Purpose/Meaning
REACH & IMPACT
Our mission unites leaders from business, government, entertainment and philanthropy. Because of our presence as a supporter, advisor or investor in communities across the country, and our place at the center of the national dialogue on the issues, we are able to identify best practice programs that are meeting a host of issues on the ground with service members and families right where they are needed.
Our High Impact Collaborations ™ bring together leaders from the public and private sector to discuss the issues, and break down barriers, that can prevent injured service members from thriving.
Thousands of people connect with our mission by following our programs and cause online. Through all of our work, and our high standards for performance, measurement and follow up, we encourage the most successful programs to collaborate, share resources and replicate success, thus extending the impact of the investments we make.
Success Stories
Veterans Green Jobs Unearthing Green Jobs More veterans than ever are seeking civilian employment. That’s why we’re helping them use their military experience to find work in the green economy — clean energy, conservation and more. Through Veterans Green Jobs, we’ve helped place over fifty veterans in permanent positions in the green jobs industry. Another 220 veterans have found temporary employment, with 300 more to come. They’re building trails, installing solar panels, putting out fires. Who said it’s not easy being green?
Student Veterans of America Washington, DC Helping Student Vets Make the Grade The availability of mental health resources on college campuses can play a vital role in helping veterans achieve their education goals and continue to thrive long term. The Bob Woodruff Foundation is investing in people, training and resources to fight stigma, trauma and suicide on college campuses and get student vets the mentoring and support they need to thrive on campus and beyond. This is about the rest of their lives.
Farmer Veteran Coalition Davis, California Cultivating New Farmers Many veterans hail from rural areas of America; others are drawn to them to find a more serene, peaceful way of life. We found a unique program that introduces novice farmers to agriculture and farming practices and helps fund education and equipment for growing operations. Our investment in a program by Farmer Veteran Coalition will be used to conduct retreats for post-9/11 veterans pursuing careers in agriculture. A second grant will fund 12 Farmer-Veteran Coalition fellowships. We think we’re sowing the seeds for an abundant harvest.
IDEO Ft. Sam Houston, TX Helping the Injured Thrive Again Injured service members can confront the choice between leg salvage and amputation. When amputation is avoided, some are still unable to walk without pain. Thanks to the Intrepid Dynamic Exoskeletal Orthosis (IDEO) brace—developed at the Center for the Intrepid at Ft. Sam Houston, Texas—the tide is turning. Those whose legs have suffered massive tissue, nerve and bone damage can now not only walk, but run, sprint and jump. Despite the proven benefits, the program is understaffed and underfunded, leaving many candidates to pay for transportation, lodging and food when they are being evaluated, fitted and trained for the device. We’re funding these temporary duty (TDY) expenses for active duty and medically retired IDEO candidates. We’re inspired by this extraordinary technology and the people behind it. Together, we can make miracles happen.
Jonas Center for Nursing Excellence New York, NY A Ripple in Time Founded in 2006, the Jonas Center for Nursing Excellence seeks to improve healthcare through high-quality nursing. The Bob Woodruff Foundation will provide scholarships through a matching grant to 20 nurse doctoral candidates who are focusing on treatment protocols for traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress. These 20 nurses will, in turn, influence not only their patients, but their colleagues, students, and countless other service members through the ripple effect of their knowledge and this single investment.
Team Rubicon Los Angeles, CA Redeploying Veterans to Disaster Relief Veterans learn valuable skills while serving their country — leadership, teamwork, setting priorities. Team Rubicon harnesses those skills in teams of vets that lead disaster relief teams, such as for Hurricane Sandy. A grant from the Bob Woodruff Foundation is helping Team Rubicon with training and national expansion. This is a team we’re all rooting for.
MusiCorps Washington, DC Giving Injured Vets New Meaning in Music Wounded warriors face a jarring shift from robust, rigorous activity to painful recovery and rehabilitation, often with life-altering results. Through our partner Musicorps, we’re using the healing power of music to reach them. Results are dramatic — from lower depression and reliance on painkillers, to improvements in memory and dexterity — often exceeding medical expectations. The Wall Street Journal called this work “revolutionary.” That’s music to our ears.
United Through Reading San Diego, CA Comforting Children in Stressful Times What’s better than a story at bedtime to make a child feel loved? For children whose parents are deployed overseas, this basic comfort is out of reach. But a group called United Through Reading is helping parents stay connected by recording them reading, and sharing those recordings with their children. Families say these virtual bedtime stories reduce their child’s anxiety at a time when stress is highest. That’s why we’re bringing this program to wounded service members separated from their kids during lengthy periods of hospitalization and rehabilitation. Thanks to BWF, parents can say goodnight and help make it a reality.
NEW LIFE For many veterans, returning to life on the homefront is enormously stressful. Couple health problems, depression or addiction with the difficulty of finding work and the basic stresses of marriage and parenthood, and you can undersand why suicide for vets is on the rise. Tragically, the number of service members who took their lives this year surpassed the number killed in combat. That’s why the number of suicide prevention programs we fund is also climbing. From training to leadership summits to public education on college campuses, we’re putting dollars and people where they’re needed most. Because saving lives matters——on the battlefield and at home.
Educate
ReMIND.org is a public education 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.
On soccer fields and at kitchen tables, through online social networks like Facebook and Twitter, and at events like Stand Up for Heroes, thousands of citizens everywhere are “reminding” others about the issues our heroes face, and sharing solutions for what we as a nation must do to help.
ReMIND is empowering people everywhere to take action to ensure our injured warriors and their families have successful futures.
Insighted a ReMIND movement that is spreading to all corners of the country through grassroots fundraising and brand awareness
Outreach through speaking engagements
Production of ReMIND videos
BWF is working to reduce the stigma regarding the Hidden Injuries of War
Collaborate
We collaborate with key federal, state, and local experts to identify and solve issues related to the successful return of service members from combat to civilian life.
BWF is working to reduce duplicative efforts and competing agendas among non-government organizations and VSOs.
BWF is promoting tolerance, acceptance and training to address the needs of those with the Hidden Injures of War among educational institutions and businesses.
BWF is working to ensure that primary caregivers including spouses and family members are given the appropriate resources and support to provide the highest level of care for injured service members.
