TRACK

TRACK says it's a program created to help wounded warriors train their mind, body, and sprite, but mostly it's a program that helps them go back to school. TRACK is the first education enter in the nation specifically for wounded warriors and is a 1 year program that helps wounded warriors meet academic goals. Which can range anywhere from an associate degree, bachelors degree, or vocational certificate. TRACK students must relocate to one of the two locations in either Jacksonville, FL or are own San Antonio, TX, all moving expenses will be payed for by WWP. They will enter the program as a group of 5-10 and continue through the program together, TRACK students must complete 3 stages to graduate from the program which are education, health and wellness, then work experience.

• Education- TRACK is an approved Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment Program. The program pays all class fees, books, and a subsistence allowance, and all classes are provided by the Florida State College at Jacksonville and Alamo Colleges in San Antonio.The first 9 months of the program are dedicated to the educational aspects of TRACK, like classes, counselor meetings, and the tutoring programs
• Health and Wellness- this is the only part of TRACK that spans the whole 12 months, once you start the program a Health and Wellness coordinator will create a personalized fitness routine. The goal of this program is to help the students learn to balance their school and work while still rehabilitating and living a healthy lifestyle.
• Work Experience- once you complete the first 9 months of the educational part of TRACK you will then spend the last 3 months placed in an externship. The externships are provided by the may companies that participate in TRACK like ATT, USAA, and HEB. These externships provide valuable work experience in the civilian world

Programs like these are what make the Wounded Warrior Project such a great organization. They don't just worry about the physical aspects of retuning from the war with injuries but the mental and future careers of these men and women. 

J.R Martinez

This is a little off topic from the wounded warrior project but if anyone was watching the Dancing with the Stars finally they would have seen that J.R Martinez won. If you don't already know Martinez enlisted in the Army after his high school graduation, and in 2003 while he was driving a Humvee in Iraq he ran over a land mine and was trapped underneath the Humvee he burned about 40 percent of his body. The injuries left him with scars on his face and the loss of his left ear. He spent 34 months here in San Antonio, at Brooke Army Medical Center, where he underwent 33 different surgeries including skin grafts and cosmetic surgery. After a nurse asked him to speak to another burn patient, who saw his body for the first time, he realized how he could help other burn victims and has since travel the country as a motivational speaker. In 2008 he was cast as wounded veteran on the show All My Children and now has won Dancing with the Stars. J.R. Martinez is a perfect example of how wounded warriors can go on to live normal lives and help others who are going through the vigor's of rehabilitation. It's also people like J.R who remind you how everyday can bring new challenges so cherish every day.   

Project Odyssey

Another great program that is offered to wounded warriors at no charge is Project Odyssey. The name Odyssey comes from Homer's epic poem about overcoming adversity and finding the way home, and was picked for good reason because Project Odyssey helps warriors overcome combat stress through outdoor activities, rehabilitative retreats that encourage a connection with nature, your peers, staff members, and trained counselors. Now the program offers three stages to choose from Project Odyssey regional, national, and International and they are all 3-7 days long

• Regional- Helps wounded warriors take the first step to recovery by connecting them with fellow wounded warriors in their community and region. These events usually last about 3 days and are spent fishing, hunting, or anything outdoors they the men or women would be interested in, with counseling done at nights
• National- gets warriors from all around the country together for an intense bonding experience like no other. This event last from 5 to 7 days and consist of all kinds of things like hiking, river rafting,horseback riding, and skiing
• International- this program was made mostly for wounded warriors to start their recovery while still active duty. This event is hosted at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany and WWP will soon offer this event to Warrior Transition Units throughout Europe also.

But don't think this is just some vacation for these warriors, it is much more then that. Project Odyssey is just using the outdoors as a means to help these men and women find the courage and inner strength to continue there journey to recovery. Project Odyssey also feels that through these activities warriors will build new skills, connect with fellow wounded warriors, and find support for combat stress among Wounded Warrior Project staff and trained counselors. Because what better way to cope with the mental and physical stress of coming home and having to adjust to civilian life with disabilities, then with warriors who know what you are going through.       
 But the program does not end once these warriors go home. No Project Odyssey staff members keep in close contact with all the participants to make sure they are doing fine and let them know they can come in anytime for counseling.

here is a video of a surfing trip Project Odyssey hosted.  

Family Support

One key issue a lot of people forget about when a son, daughter, father, or mother join the military is the toll it takes on not only the enlistee but also his or her family. Being gone for months on end and missing out on holidays and memories with the family is really tough, and this stress is only increased when a soldier returns with injures or disabilities. Also for some families the soldier who was injured was the primary caregiver, so now there spouse will have to step into a role they are not familiar with as full time caregiver. Now you can see how all these problems can really strain a relationship or family, so Wounded Warrior Project started the program Family Support to help the families of returning wounded veterans cope with the adjustments. Family Support offers assistance and relief programs for family, spouses, and caregivers through weekend retreats and child care programs. Two of these programs are called Caregiver Retreat and My Care Crew

• Caregiver Retreat- gives the spouses, parents, and siblings a much needed break with weekend-long, all-expense-paid retreats hosted at several locations all over the country. The retreats provides families with an opportunity to get some much needed physical and mental rest while connecting with about 25 other groups going though similar situations. The participants are required to go though a ice breaker phase where they have group counseling sessions, with an option for one on one counseling later, also they must go through outdoor team building sessions hat help you get to know the rest of the participants. But after that you can spend you free time, depending on location and season, doing what you wish like swimming, golfing, shopping, hiking, spa services, and horseback riding. Also once the weekend is over WWP has everyone trade information if they want so they can stay connected and maybe create new friendships.
• My Care Crew- is as they say a community approach to care giving. My Care Crew helps makes it easier for friends, family, and the community to assist wounded warriors and their families as they transition home through an online website. Families in need of assistance simply list things that they need done on an online calender such as meal delivery, transportation, shopping, or household chores. And then an Approved volunteer can then sign up on the calender to that job for the family! I emphasized approved because i don't want you thinking any weirdo or thief can accept the job. So as you can see this really gets the community involved in helping out. Also here is a link if you want to also help out. http://mycarecrew.lotsahelpinghands.com/military/home/

Finally while doing some research on the Family Support program I came upon a a woman's blog. And in her blog she posted about how she took advantage of the retreat and how it really helped her relax and meet new friends. http://voltinfamily.blogspot.com/2008/08/wounded-warrior-project-caregiver.html 
 

Show off your Wounded Warrior Gear

through their partnership with Under Armour, overstock.com, USAA, believe in heroes, and Survival Straps you can proudly show off your support with Wounded Warrior apparel. First you can go to Under Armour website where you will find shirts, sweaters, caps, jackets, and backpacks for men and women. They also sell shirts and jackets with The University of Southern Florida, Texas Tech, and South Carolina, so if you go to one of those schools you can support both your school and Wounded Warrior. Another great program Under Armour has is you can buy a WWP Backpack Gift that comes with a shirt, jacket, boxers and briefs, socks, and a pair of shorts that they will send to a wounded soldier overseas.
http://www.underarmour.com/shop/us/en/wwp-collection

And if you bank with USAA you can get a custom dept card with the WWP logo, USAA will also make a donation to the WWP every time someone orders this card. 
https://www.usaa.com/inet/pages/bank_credit_cards_military_affiliate_WWP?adid=aff_wwp_cc_deepdive


Now if you are looking for things around the home and office Believe in Heroes offers cups, notebooks, chairs, and car stickers all with the WWP logo on them.
https://storefront.promodepot.com/bih/default.aspx?p=viewcat&showpage=1

Then for the outdoors men you have the Survival Straps. Survival Straps are a bracelet made out of tough military spec 550 paracord, that in an emergency situation you can unravel t and have up to 16ft of paracord at your disposal. 
http://www.survivalstraps.com/wounded-warrior-project.html

But the best thing about all theses promotions are that 
some or all the money made of these profits will go to support 
the Wounded Warrior Project!!! 

How can i help?

There are many ways you can help support the Wounded Warrior Project the first of course is to volunteer at a Wounded Warrior Project event like soldier ride. Or if you live in an area where no events are taking place you can help out by supporting the "Share are Mission" campaign. "Share are Mission" is a marketing campaign where Wounded Warrior Project ask volunteers to hand out fliers, posters, and packets to the public and companies to increase awareness for Wounded Warrior Project. If you want to get a little more

in-depth you can write to your legislators and encourage them to support legislation to benefit our wounded warriors. Through this action maybe we can help support wounded warriors by encouraging positive changes in benefits and veterans policy. Finally, you can hold fundraisers like sports tournaments, run/walk events, plate sales, and pretty much anything you think will help all you have to do is register your event through the Wounded Warrior website.

As you can see there are lost of ways to help out and for those of you who live in San Antonio here is some information to contact Wounded Warrior for more in formation 

 Wounded Warrior Project

12672 Silicon Drive, Suite 105
San Antonio, TX 78249

Telephone: 210-569-0300

San Antonio Soldier Ride 2011

Today part of all the celebrations of Veterans Day weekend was the San Antonio Soldier ride. Soldier ride is a Wounded Warrior Project initiative that helps injured veterans to overcome the mental and physical battles they have to overcome from their unfortunate disabilities. It is a unique interactive cycling experience that honors are brave military men and women, through the exhilaration of cycling with fellow injured service members. And all the equipment and fees are provided at no cost by Wounded Warrior Project to any wounded veteran. Until 2008 the Warrior Ride was only reserved for military personnel, but now it is open to the community and it offers the public a chance to ride alongside our nation's wounded warriors and support them through their tough recovery. It is a very emotional and satisfying experience they lets the nation and communities give back and show are gratitude to the brave men and women of the armed forces who put their lives on the line everyday.

Here is great video that was on the Soldier Ride website that I think you will find interesting

 

 I also learned that the San Antonio Soldier Ride raised $94,058, that will all go to the Wounded Warrior Project to keep great events like this going on for years. And that this years Soldier Ride was dedicated in memory of Chief Petty Officer (SEAL) Christopher George Campbell who was a husband, father, son, and brother. "Chris" made the ultimate sacrifice for his brothers in arms on a rescue mission in the Wardak province of Afghanistan on August 6, 2011. He was a highly-decorated combat veteran with numerous awards. "A handwritten note included with Chris' will stated that should he die in combat, rather than to focus on him, his wish was that 100,000 people donate to the Wounded Warrior Project."

 And finally ill end today's post with another quote i found on Soldier Rides website, that shows how something small like a bike ride is really helping are wounded warriors overcome the physical and emotional battles.

"Before the Chicago ride, I wasn't doing too well physically or emotionally. WWP let me meet other wounded vets who had similar injuries and see that they're doing ok and can bike. I'm on my way to recovery and I have WWP Soldier Ride to thank for that."

- Wounder Warrior