Grant Funding to Support WCC’s Mission Based Trauma Recovery Program

BOYDS, Md. – Warrior Canine Connection (WCC) is a recipient of one of 34 Healthcare Initiative Foundation (HIF) FY22 Nonprofit Capacity Building Grants, which focus on supporting Montgomery County, Maryland-based organizations that provide high-quality, comprehensive, and sustainable health and wellness services in the area. This year’s grant marks the seventh year in a row that HIF has supported WCC’s programming with funding totaling $73,000 for its programs and services to support the health and wellness of Montgomery County’s most vulnerable Veterans.

“HIF is a recognized leader in Montgomery County that’s doing great things to help local nonprofits, Warrior Canine Connection included,” said Rick Yount, founder and executive director, WCC. “We are so privileged to have HIF’s continued support to help provide funding for Veterans who can benefit from our Mission Based Trauma Recovery (MBTR) training program.”

The MBTR model harnesses the healing power of the Warrior Ethos and the human-animal bond to reduce symptoms of combat trauma whereby patients with combat stress train dogs to assist other Veterans with invisible and/or physical wounds. The model provides recovering combat Veterans with a sense of purpose while they are recovering and is designed to remediate their symptoms of combat stress, such as isolation, emotional numbness, and re-experiencing.

“HIF is honored to continue its partnership with Warrior Canine Connection. To have a nationally recognized program located in Montgomery County that has developed and implemented cutting-edge trauma programming to serve our nation’s veterans and their families is humbling. WCC is a committed community partner, too. The Foundation is excited that WCC is continuing its partnership with the Cohen Veterans Clinic at EasterSeals to provide high-caliber recovery programming for veterans and their families. We look forward to all that we will accomplish together,” Crystal Townsend, president and CEO of Healthcare Initiative Foundation.

The Healthcare Initiative Foundation (HIF) invested a total of $1.02M to a total of 34 nonprofits serving Montgomery County, Maryland residents through its FY22 Nonprofit Capacity Building Grant Cycle. This year’s recipients are projected to serve more than 121,800 Montgomery County residents through: Healthcare Access and Behavioral Health Services, Food Security and Hub Distribution Centers, Healthcare Workforce Education, and Nonprofit Capacity Building.

For more information, please contact Beth Bourgeois, Warrior Canine Connection, at beth.bourgeois@warriorcanineconnection.org or 719-216-3206.

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About Warrior Canine Connection
Warrior Canine Connection is a pioneering organization that utilizes a Mission Based Trauma Recovery model to empower returning combat Veterans who have sustained physical and psychological wounds while in service to our country. Based on the concept of Warriors helping Warriors, WCC’s therapeutic service dog training program is designed to mitigate symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury, and other challenges, while giving injured combat Veterans a sense of purpose, help in reintegrating back into their families and communities, and a potential career path as a service dog trainer. For more information, visit www.warriorcanineconnection.org.

About the Healthcare Initiative Foundation
The Foundation’s mission is to support organizations that offer solutions to improve the quality and delivery of health and wellness services for residents of Montgomery County, Maryland. HIF envisions a Montgomery County where residents are served by an equitable, high quality, comprehensive, cost-effective, and sustainable healthcare system To learn more, please visit: http://www.hifmc.org and like HIF on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/hifmc.