Jacksonville organization helping America’s Wounded Warriors
11/04/2008 by Max Marbut Staff Writer “Despite the uncertain economy, we must keep the needs of our wounded veterans in mind. We can’t let the things happen to this generation of Wounded Warriors that happened to previous generations like those from the Vietnam War,” said Steven Nardizzi, deputy executive director of the Wounded Warrior Project (WWP), at Monday’s meeting of the Rotary Club of Jacksonville. Nardizzi is an attorney and was one of the co-founders of the WWP in 2003. For 10 years prior to joining WWP, he represented disabled veterans and their families as associate executive director of the Eastern Paralyzed Veterans Association. Nardizzi said the Jacksonville-based WWP is the nation’s fastest-growing veterans charity and the only such organization accredited by the Department of Veterans Affairs to serve the current generation of military personnel who have been disabled during their service in the war in the Middle East.The WWP started with backpacks filled with donated items like loose-fitting clothing, personal care items and even CD players. The kits were given to disabled veterans when they arrived at stateside VA hospitals. “The backpacks are our calling card and our introduction to our Wounded Warriors,” said Nardizzi. In the past five years, the WWP has expanded its services to veterans who were severely injured in combat and their families. Nardizzi said one of the programs developed is an accidental death and dismemberment supplemental insurance plan available to military personnel for as little as $1 per month. Nardizzi helped draft the original text for the “Traumatic Injury Servicemen’s Group Life Insurance Benefits Bill,” which was approved by the U.S. Congress and the VA. To date, the plan has paid more than $300 million in benefits to service men and women and their families. “Traumatic brain injury, along with amputation, are the signature injuries of the war in the Middle East,” he said. “Those injuries require long-term health care and rehabilitation.” WWP has also developed educational programs to help Wounded Warriors make the switch from their military career to a career in the private sector. “Our goal is to help our Wounded Warriors (members) transition the leadership and teamwork skills they learned in the military and reenter society as productive, contributing members, not just sit at home and collect a disability check,” said Nardizzi. He added the WWP’s computer skills training initiative has been very successful and the hundreds of participants nationwide have achieved a 100 percent success rate. “Forty percent have become employed in information technology careers, 35 percent have gone on to higher education in the field and 25 percent have returned to military service in their new career,” said Nardizzi. “Many of them have discovered they can make use of their computer skills while working from their homes.” He encouraged business owners who have job openings that could be filled by a Wounded Warrior to visit the organization’s Website, www.woundedwarriorproject.org. mmarbut@baileypub.com 356-2466
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