Able Flight has received a $45,000 grant from the Wounded Warrior Project (WWP), a non-profit organization whose mission is to honor and empower Wounded Warriors. The grant will expand Able Flight’s ability to provide flight training and aviation career training scholarships to injured service members.
Able Flight is a national nonprofit that provides flight training and aviation employment training for people with physical disabilities, including wounded veterans. Through scholarships and mentoring, Able Flight has enabled 33 people to earn their pilot certificates and another seven to receive career training.
“We are honored that Able Flight was selected to receive funding from Wounded Warrior Project to provide life-changing opportunities for those who have served and sacrificed, ” said Charles Stites, Able Flight’s executive director. “Over the past several years we have trained six wounded veterans to become licensed pilots, and provided aviation job training to another wounded veteran. This grant gives Able Flight the resources to offer five new scholarships for wounded veterans, and we look forward to making it possible for them to become pilots or train for a variety of careers in aviation.”
Veterans wounded in service since 9/11 can apply for one of the five new scholarships by visiting the scholarships page at AbleFlight.org and downloading an application form.
Applications will be accepted and reviewed beginning in early October, with scholarships being awarded on a rolling basis until the five scholarships supported by the Wounded Warrior Project grant are awarded.
“The WWP grant program allows us to support the good work and expertise of a broad spectrum of organizations that are dedicated to meeting the needs of injured service members,” said Steven Nardizzi, executive director, Wounded Warrior Project. “We are very proud of the collaboration and commitment that the grant program fosters to help ensure this generation of injured service members is the most successful and well-adjusted in our nation’s history.”
In this second year of operation, the WWP Grants Program continues to work with organizations that provide injured service members with unique, specialized programs and services, often in remote service areas. During two review cycles each year, WWP selects the grant recipients, and to date has provided support to more than 70 organizations nationwide.
It is estimated more than 50,000 servicemen and women have been physically injured in recent military conflicts, another 320,000 have experienced a traumatic brain injury while on deployment, and as many as 400,000 additional service members live with the invisible wounds of war including combat-related stress, major depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder.
For more information: AbleFlight.org, WoundedWarriorProject.org