2022 Fall Grants | Bob Woodruff Foundation

2022 Fall Grants

The Bob Woodruff Foundation (BWF) is proud to announce its 2022 fall grants – an investment of over $3.9M to 34 organizations that work to ensure that veterans, service members, their families and caregivers thrive.

The 2022 fall grants portfolio supports programs that address a range of veterans’ needs. These include clinical mental healthcare, legal services, homeless and housing services, employment, and case management.

Find more information on our grants program, or contact Emily Bader.

Grantees

We’ve invested in the following programs as part of our grants program.

Spring 2023
U.S.VETS
Comprehensive Case Management and Meals for Homeless and At-Risk Veterans Service Area: Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada Goal: Provide case management and meals to ensure that veterans experiencing or at risk… Read More
Spring 2023
Swords to Plowshares
Veterans Community Center – Services to Increase San Francisco Veterans’ Health and Food Insecurity Service Area: San Francisco Bay Area Goal: Improve the health and wellbeing of 200 veterans experiencing… Read More
Spring 2023
Friendship Place
Veterans First Service Area: Washington, DC metropolitan area Goal: Improve housing and financial stability for 50 veteran households through a combination of case management and emergency financial assistance In May… Read More
Spring 2023
Columbus House
Harkness House: Transitional Housing Program for Veterans Experiencing Homelessness Service Area: New Haven, CT Goal: Provide transitional housing, case management, and connection to benefits and services to at least 45… Read More
Spring 2023
Insight Housing
Roads Home – Supporting Veteran Families Experiencing Homelessness and Food Insecurity Service Area: Alameda, Amador, Contra Costa, Sacramento, San Francisco, San Joaquin, and Solano Counties Goal: Provide outreach and basic… Read More
Spring 2023
NextOp
Military to Career Internship Program    NextOp recruits, trains, and places high-performing middle-enlisted post-9/11 military leaders into industry careers. Many veterans end up unemployed or underemployed because they have a difficult… Read More
Spring 2023
Easterseals Redwood
Military and Veteran Services Service Area: Greater Cincinnati (Hamilton, Clermont, Warren, Butler counties, Ohio; Boone, Kenton and Campbell counties, Kentucky; Dearborn and Franklin counties, Indiana) Goal: Ensure 125 veterans with… Read More
Spring 2023
University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio
STRONG STAR Training Initiative Service Area: National Goal: Provide training and consultation in cognitive processing therapy, prolonged exposure, and written exposure therapy to 140 veteran-serving community mental health providers to… Read More
Spring 2023
Valley Cities
The Steven A. Cohen Military Family Clinic at Valley Cities Service Area: Washington State Goal: Provide evidence-based mental health care, including in schools, to improve the mental health and wellbeing… Read More
Spring 2023
Red Rock Military Services
The Steven A. Cohen Military Family Clinic at Red Rock Military Services Service Area: Oklahoma Goal: Improve the mental health and wellbeing of at least 100 military children and families… Read More
Spring 2023
Child and Family Service
The Steven A. Cohen Military Family Clinic at Child and Family Service Service Area: Hawaii Goal: Provide evidence-based mental health care to improve mental health and wellbeing for at least… Read More

The Bob Woodruff Foundation (BWF) is proud to announce its 2022 fall grants — an investment of over $3.9M to 34 organizations that work to ensure that veterans, service members, their families and caregivers thrive. The 2022 fall grants portfolio supports programs that address a range of veterans’ needs. These include clinical mental healthcare, legal services, homeless and housing services, employment, and case management.

Find more information on our grants program, or contact Emily Bader

Armed Services Arts Partnership
ASAP Community Arts Chapters

Supported in partnership with the NFL

Armed Services Arts Partnership (ASAP) fosters communities where veterans, service members, military family members, and caregivers thrive through the arts. ASAP’s programs provide participants with a supportive environment in which they can find community, self-expression, and a sense of purpose. This grant will provide community arts programming to 550 veterans, service members, family members, and caregivers to

  • increase social support and access to the arts for 550 participants, and
  • improve well-being for 225 participants who engage in multi-week classes.

Armed Services YMCA of the USA
Building Resilience in Military Families

Supported in partnership with the NFL 

The Armed Services YMCA (ASYMCA) provides free and low-cost programs and services for military families, promoting youth development, healthy living, and social responsibility. With this NFL-BWF Healthy Lifestyles and Creating Community grant, ASYMCA will

  • train teachers and staff to support military children in childcare centers who may have complex needs related to stress, fear, and/or loneliness.
  • start a Mobile Market stocked with fresh and frozen food in addition to pantry staples, and
  • maintain childcare programs that provide military spouses the opportunity to pursue certifications, higher education, or employment to ease the burden on their military family.

Bastion Community of Resilience
Resident Food System

Supported in partnership with the NFL

In New Orleans’ Bastion Community of Resilience, returning warriors and families, including those with life-altering wounds and injuries, live alongside retired military and civilian volunteers to enhance their mutual wellbeing and resilience. Many Bastion residents are at high risk for food insecurity based on a combination of physical and socioeconomic risk factors, including service-connected disabilities, chronic health conditions, and fixed or low-incomes. This NFL-BWF Healthy Lifestyles and Creating Community (HLCC) grant will increase food security and improve overall health and independence for at least 50 veteran households by supporting the ongoing operation of Bastion’s bulk food pantry, and the continued provision of nutritious meals and healthy cooking classes to Bastion residents and program participants by Bastion’s resident chefs.


Bay Area Legal Services, Inc.
Bay Area Legal Services’ VA-MLP Partnership Serving Tampa Bay Veterans 

Since 2016, Bay Area Legal Services has worked within the Bay Pines VA Medical Legal Partnership to provide legal assistance to income-qualified veterans with legal issues that impact their health. This BWF grant will expand Bay Area Legal Services’ efforts to meet the legal needs of veterans in the greater Tampa Bay area, through their medical-legal partnership with the VA’s Bay Pines medical system. This funds will help remove barriers to wellbeing and improve quality of life and personal stability for at least 500 veteran households in the greater Tampa Bay area.

Children’s Research Triangle
Veteran Family Mental Health Services

Through partnerships with the Forest Park Vet Center and Evanston Vet Center, Children’s Research Triangle is addressing the mental health service gap for children by providing treatment to children of veterans engaged in services at both vet centers. This BWF grant will provide evidence-based mental health treatment and psychoeducation to 18 veteran families to

  • improve children’s mental health and emotional, behavioral, and academic functioning, and
  • decrease parenting stress and improve parenting skills related to child behavioral difficulties and family relationships.

Citymeals on Wheels
Meal Deliveries to Homebound, Older Veterans

Supported in partnership with Craig Newmark Philanthropies

 Citymeals on Wheels provides meals and vital companionship to homebound elderly individuals across New York City, 1,600 of whom are veterans. Their programs ensure that elderly New Yorkers receive both a daily meal and frequent check-ins to provide opportunities for social connection. While the New York City Department for the Aging funds meals during weekdays, they don’t fund meals during weekends, holidays, and emergencies. Citymeals on Wheels’ weekend meal delivery helps vulnerable older adults maintain food security. With this BWF investment, Citymeals on Wheels will deliver 9,375 weekend meals to homebound veterans residing in New York City, ensuring that 1,600 elderly New York veterans receive weekend meals and check-ins to provide social connection.
 

Emory University
Veterans Program at Emory Healthcare

The Emory Healthcare Veterans Program (EHVP) treats conditions related to military service: post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), traumatic brain injury (TBI), military sexual trauma (MST), anxiety, and depression. EHVP’s two-week intensive outpatient program (IOP) for PTSD has a completion rate of more than 90%, and more than 75% of patients see clinically significant improvements in their symptoms. EHVP’s IOP provides specialized care to patients with symptoms of mTBI and PTSD. Patients with mTBI have sessions with a neuropsychologist, receive cognitive assessments, and may utilize rehabilitation resources. With this BWF funding, EVHP will improve the mental health of at least 50 veteran/military households through hybrid and/or fully remote telehealth care to treat PTSD, depression, and mTBI.
 

Endeavors
Mission Recovery Program

Endeavors‘ Mission Recovery Program provides integrated, evidence-based treatment using a harm reduction model. This model enables patients who are using substances to continue withmental health care as they work to either reduce reliance on substances or achieve sobriety. This grant will provide 100 veterans with evidence-based treatment for substance use and co-occurring disorders to reduce mental health symptoms and promote positive coping skills that reduce their reliance on substances.

Family Houston
Returning Home

Family Houston’s Returning Home program supports veterans and their families who are at risk of becoming homeless, in unstable housing situations, or recovering from homelessness. Family Houston’s Returning Home program ensures struggling veterans in Houston receive the resources necessary to establish and maintain stable housing. This BWF investment to increase 75 veteran and military households’ access to basic needs, earned benefits, and additional supportive services for by providing direct assistance to meet immediate needs and case management to address root causes of housing and financial instability.

Headstrong Project
Trauma Treatment Program

Supported in partnership with the NFL

The Headstrong Project provides mental health treatment for veterans, service members, and their families of all service eras, discharge status and combat experience. Through the trauma treatment program helps veteran families access to the high-quality, culturally competent mental health care they need. This NFL-BWF Healthy Lifestyles and Creating Community grant will provide evidence-based treatment to improve mental health outcomes for 75 veterans.

Home Base
Families of the Fallen Intensive Clinical Program

 In 2018, Home Base began a two-week Intensive Clinical Program (ICP) to help families of the fallen address trauma and complicated grief. The Families of the Fallen ICP combines individual and group therapy with case management and integrative health services. These services include fitness, trauma-informed yoga, art therapy, and nutrition classes. This BWF grant will support three Families of the Fallen ICP cohorts in 2023, and provide 36 surviving family members with treatment to 

  • reduce symptoms of PTSD, depression, and complicated grief.
  • improve stress management skills.

Inner City Law Center
Homeless Veterans Project Medical-Legal Partnership

 For over 25 years, Inner City Law Center’s Homeless Veterans Project has helped homeless veterans. The project helps veterans with service-connected disabilities access benefits, healthcare, and housing to which they’re entitled, but have been denied. Inner City Law built two successful medical-legal partnerships (MLP) with Los Angeles area Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical centers. With this investment, the Inner City Law Center’s will provide civil legal aid for at least 60 veterans.  

Island Harvest Food Bank
Operation: HOPE

Island Harvest Food Bank, a resource for local veterans’ organizations, provides food support, nutrition education, and connection to other services and benefits. In 2011, Island Harvest launched Operation: HOPE to provide the community’s veterans, active-duty personnel, and military families with more direct and specialized services using a veteran-serving-veteran peer support model. Operation: HOPE provides Long Island veterans and their families with healthy food and supportive services to maintain their independence. BWF funds will support critical supportive services and distribute healthy meals to Long Island veterans, active-duty personnel, and military families, who are impacted by poverty and food insecurity.

Legal Aid Society of the Orange County Bar Association
The Veterans Advocacy, Legal Outreach, & Representation (VALOR) Project

The Legal Aid Society’s Veterans Advocacy, Legal Outreach & Representation Project, or VALOR, provides veterans with access to an attorney who helps them understand, address, and resolve often complex civil legal issues. This BWF grant will provide legal services to remove barriers to wellbeing and improve the quality of life of at least 200 veteran households in central Florida. VALOR:

  • advocates on behalf of low-income veterans in Central Florida to provide free civil legal assistance
  • partners with local VA medical centers to provide intake and onsite assistance clinics
  • works with VA social workers and staff who refer veterans for VALOR’s assistance with life-threatening issues requiring a legal intervention.

Lone Star Legal Aid
Military and Veterans Unit

Lone Star Legal Aid (LSLA) serves East Texas, which includes the urban center of Houston and the largely rural, diverse, and low-income 72-county region. Many local veterans suffer hardships stemming from civil legal issues related to re-entry to civilian life, long-term effects of war, access to veteran benefits, eviction, uninhabitable housing, income instability, difficulty maintaining independence while aging, and employment barriers. Veteran households experiencing civil legal troubles face food insecurity, barriers to public benefits eligibility, inability to pay rent and mortgages, rising domestic violence, and are at-risk of homelessness and suicide. This BWF grant will support LSLA’s legal services to address service-related legal issues that remove barriers to wellbeing and improve quality of life for at least 50 veteran households in East Texas

Minnesota Assistance Council for Veterans
Income Navigation Program

The Minnesota Assistance Council for Veterans (MAC-V) provides homeless prevention and intervention services to help veterans achieve and sustain housing stability. Services include legal counsel, employment services, case management, financial assistance, and transitional and supportive housing. This BWF investment in the Income Navigation Program will pair a dedicated benefit specialist alongside MACV’s best-in-class employment services, to provide a combination of employment services and benefits assistance to 50 veterans to improve their financial stability by securing employment and/or accessing benefits.

Move United
Los Angeles Expansion and Super Bowl Activation

Supported in partnership with the NFL  

Move United, a nationwide network of 120-plus community-based chapters operating in 42 states, provides disabled individuals independence and confidence through sports and educational programs. With support from an NFL-BWF Healthy Lifestyles and Creating Community (HLCC), in 2020 Move United launched the first ever Wheelchair Football League in four markets. In 2021 and 2022 NFL-BWF grant funding enabled Move United to expand the league to 11 teams. In 2022, this grant will fund the creation of one new USA Wheelchair Football League team in Los Angeles to enable veterans to improve their physical and mental health through wheelchair football. 

National Ability Center
Program CAMO

The National Ability Center (NAC) empowers individuals of all abilities by building self-esteem, confidence, and lifetime skills through sport, recreation, and social & educational programming. Project CAMO provides adaptive sport activities that are rehabilitative, recreational, and therapeutic. The activities are offered to active-duty service members, veterans, and their families who are living with physical, cognitive, and mental health disabilities.  This BWF grant will provide recreational and adaptive sports opportunities for 150 veterans and their families to decrease social isolation, increase physical activity, and build a sense of community.

Ohio State University Foundation
Suicide and Trauma Reduction Initiative for Veterans (STRIVE)

The Suicide and Trauma Reduction Initiative for Veterans (STRIVE) provides evidence-based treatment to service members and veterans with a diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or an elevated suicide risk. These intensive treatments are provided daily (versus weekly), which reduces early dropout and improves overall treatment response. This BWF grant will provide treatment to 80 veterans in order to reduce the severity of PTSD symptoms, reduce the frequency and severity of  suicidal thoughts, and improve well-being

Operation Stand Down Tennessee
Operation Commissary

Supported in partnership with the NFL

Operation Stand Down Tennessee (OSDTN) provides and connects veterans and their families with transition, employment, housing, benefits, peer engagement, food, and social connection resources. In 2021, the Bob Woodruff Foundation supported the creation of Operation Commissary. The Commissary provides home-delivery to veterans, and delivers food boxes to partner locations. Operation Commissary also uses food assistance to engage veterans in additional supportive services. This NFL-BWF Healthy Lifestyles and Creating Community grant will fund a case manager to provide enhanced service coordination and follow-up . This funding will provide food assistance and case management for 500 veteran and military households.

Research Foundation of the City University of New York on behalf of Hunter College
Project for Return and Opportunity in Veterans Education (PROVE)

Supported in partnership with Amazon 

PROVE ensures student veterans on City University of New York (CUNY) campuses and Fordham University have a successful educational journey by helping them  transition from the military to a college community. PROVE’s social work interns and field instructors provide social and emotional support for student veterans. The interns also provide short-term crisis intervention, mental health counseling, and referrals. Concurrently, the PROVE program trains social work interns in the needs and concerns of the student veteran. This increases the military cultural competency of the next generation of social workers. This BWF grant will fund the PROVE program at nine NYC campuses, allowing the social work interns and field instructors to foster a supportive community for student veterans. 

Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregiving
Operation Family Caregiver 

In 2012 the Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregiving developed Operation Family Caregiver (OFC). This personalized program is tailored to the needs of veteran caregivers. OFC coaches teach caregivers the skills needed to navigate challenges, resulting in stronger and healthier families. This grant will provide one-on-one coaching to 63 veteran caregivers to improve their health and wellbeing, reduce caregiver burden, and reduce stress of children of participating caregivers.

Rutgers University Foundation
Vets4Warriors

Vets4Warriors provides critical “upstream support” to veterans and their families. The program facilitates access to services (emergency financial aid, connection to mental healthcare, peer support, etc.) before veterans reach crisis.  Vets4Warriors peers, who are veterans, military family members, or caregivers, answer every call, text or email from a veteran. Peers help callers with crises, and work with participants to define and progress toward goals. This BWF grant will support Vets4Warriors’ peers’ salaries so they can continue to support veterans and their families. Vets4Warriors will connect at least 425 veterans and families to services that will improve their quality of life.

Services for the UnderServed
Veterans Housing and Employment Support

Supported in partnership with VOWS and Capital One 

The Services for the UnderServed (S:US) supports veterans at risk for homelessness, unemployment, untreated medical, behavioral health, and substance use challenges, and disconnection from family, social and other supports. Nearly all S:US veterans qualify as very-low income per federal guidelines. However, hundreds of these veterans do not qualify for government-funded programming such as Supportive Services for Veteran Families and the Homeless Veterans’ Reintegration Program. This BWF grant will increase S:US’ capacity to serve veterans ineligible for government assistance. This investment will provide employment services, case management, and financial assistance for housing and employment-related needs to at least 100 veterans, ensuring that they meet their long-term housing and employment goals.

Southeast Louisiana Legal Services
Vulnerable Veterans Legal Advocacy Project

Southeast Louisiana Legal Services (SLLS), the largest nonprofit civil legal aid provider in Louisiana, addresses veterans’ legal issues

  • via onsite legal clinics at the New Orleans Veterans Administration Medical Center and area VA health clinics,
  • their Veterans Hotline, and
  • their numerous partnerships with local Veterans Treatment Courts and veteran service providers.

SLLS’ legal services help

  • veterans living with disabilities receive critical benefits.
  • housing-insecure veterans maintain housing.
  • remove veterans’ barriers to employment.

This BWF grant will fund legal services for at least 150 military and veteran households in the greater New Orleans area and in the Northshore’s rural areas.

Tuesday’s Children
Youth Mentoring for Post-9/11 Military Families of the Fallen

Supported in partnership with the NFL

Tuesday’s Children’s addresses the needs of military families in all stages of recovery following the loss of a family member. Tuesday’s Children’s Youth Mentoring program encourages and supports relationships between adult role models and children 8-18, and helps children grow emotionally and socially.  This NFL-BWF Salute to Service grant will improve the emotional, behavioral, and academic outcomes of 275 Gold Star children through one-on-one youth mentoring

UCLA Foundation
UCLA Meals Partnership Program

Using UCLA’s Housing & Hospitality Dining Services’ excess capacity, the UCLA Meals Partnership Program prepares and delivers nutritious and sustainable meals to homeless veterans on the VA-WLA campus. The program ensures veterans can access VA services, emotional and social wellbeing resources, legal assistance, and job placement programs. This BWF grant will allow the UCLA Meals Partnership Program to provide

  • meals to the VA-WLA CTRS tent and tiny shelter camp;
  • nightly dinners to Safe Parking LA’s VA-WLA lot, a safe place for Veterans who live in their vehicles to park overnight; and
  • boxed lunches to locations across the VA-WLA campus.

This program will reach over 660 homeless and food insecure veterans and provide over 20,400 meals as part of a holistic approach to addressing homelessness.

United Way of Long Island
VetsBuild

Supported in partnership with VOWS  

Mission United’s VetsBuild program provides career training, employment opportunities and support services for veterans and their families. VetsBuild’s offers green construction training where veterans earn industry recognized credentials (BPI, OSHA, NWRC). With this BWF grant, United Way Long Island will provide construction training services and job placement for 20 veterans and supportive services to 100 program graduates.

University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
Recovery-Oriented Money Management Program

UT Health Houston‘s Recovery-Oriented Money Management (ROMM) program is an 8-week community-based program for homeless and at-risk veterans. Veterans participate in financial education groups, individual financial coaching, and computerized budget assistance tailored to their needs and experiences. This grant will

  •  provide financial counseling to 100 veterans experiencing or at risk for homelessness
  • increase their financial literacy and money management skills and improve their wellbeing and quality of life.
  • support the development of a program manual, and training modules on military cultural competency and money management.

Veterans Community Project

Supported in partnership with the NFL

Veterans Community Project (VCP) provides innovative and effective transitional housing and community outreach programming. Their goal is to address and overcome veterans’ barriers to permanent housing and help them achieve long-term housing stability. Through VCP’s street outreach work, team members work with veterans experiencing homelessness who may not know about services available to them. This funding will support street outreach in Longmont, CO; Kansas City, MO; and St. Louis, MO and ensure veterans’ food and hygiene needs are met. This funding will also support six case managers who will ensure veterans are connected to VCP resources. With this NFL-BWF Healthy Lifestyles and Creating Community grant, VCP will decrease barriers to stability for 1,550+ veteran and military households.

Veterans Place of Washington Boulevard, Inc.
Veteran Resource Center 

Veterans Place of Washington Boulevard connect veterans in the Pittsburgh area to tools that will help them build better lives and become self-sufficient. Veterans Place conducts daily street and shelter outreach in the community, bringing veterans into the VRC to access needed services. Their Veteran Resource Center offers a commercial kitchen, laundry and shower facilities, and a food pantry. The Center also has a computer lab, and resources to help veterans achieve their wellness, housing, and employment goals. This grant will

  • support street and shelter outreach efforts,
  • provide emergency financial assistance to meet the basic needs of veterans not eligible for federal funding sources, and
  • fund an additional Intake Specialist to serve as the front-line service navigator for veterans in the community.

This BWF grant will increase access to services for 150 veterans and ensure their basic needs are met.

Volunteers of America Michigan
Michigan Veterans Food Security Project (VFSP)

Volunteers of America Michigan (VOAMI) offers programming focused on veteran homelessness and homeless prevention, health and wellness, benefit assistance, workforce development and life skills. With this funding, through access to emergency food resources and case management.  VOAMI will improve the stability of 800 low-income veteran and military households who are ineligible for federal programs

Warrior-Scholar Project
College Preparatory Boot Camps

Warrior-Scholar Project (WSP) provides enlisted veterans and service members with

  • a skill bridge that enables a successful transition to the classroom, and
  • ongoing support throughout their pursuit of higher education and into the workforce.

In partnership with top colleges and universities, WSP hosts comprehensive one- and two-week college-preparatory academic boot camps. These camps are for enlisted veterans and transitioning service members. WSP offers intensive boot camps (75+ academic hours required/week), in three disciplines (Humanities, STEM, and Business & Entrepreneurship). Through this BWF grant, WSP will increase the college readiness of 108 veterans through academic boot camp programming.

West Texas Counseling and Guidance
West Texas Counseling & Guidance Veterans Services

The West Texas Counseling & Guidance (WTCG) connects with the veteran community, reduces barriers to healthcare for veterans, provides top quality, evidence-based services and resources, and helps veterans reach their full potential. WTCG’s two main offices are in the communities identified as facing significant pandemic related impacts in a BWF’s research paper.  With this BWF investment, WTCG will provide evidence-based therapy. The therapies include Cognitive Behavioral process, Cognitive Processing Therapy, Prolonged Exposure, and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, and case management. Over 170 veterans and military households  in west Texas and eastern New Mexico will receive these services. This grant will also support additional training to increase the skills of WTCG’s clinical staff.