WHAT IS THE MISSION OF DISABLED SPORTS USA?

Disabled Sports USA has many programs, we have ones for children with disabilities, and civilians with disabilities, but if someone wants to donate to military veterans, that is Warfighter sports program. And it’s not a separate charity, it’s part of our charity, it's just dedicated exclusively to serving the wounded warriors.

But basically the mission is to provide an opportunity for people to engage in sports, to learn independence, self- confidence and fitness so that they can engage fully in life, and be productive and live their dreams. And we use sports as a tool to get people back into life, to build their confidence, build their fitness and enable them to become productive and independent members of society. And what I have found and what we as an organization have found in our work is that sports during rehabilitation is one of the most effective tools for achieving both speedier rehabilitation and more effective rehabilitation. And this has now been proven in studies we have commissioned with Harris Interactive, to show that those involved with sports, both veterans and non-veterans, have a higher employment level, higher life satisfaction level, interact socially in a more positive manner, and look forward to their lives- and looking forward to the rest of your life is what I call hope. Hope and expectations can carry a person a long way, and again the studies show that a much higher percentage of wounded that are involved in our sports programs, have that hope and expectation, than the general disabled population that is not active in sports. So we use sports both as a tool for rehabilitation, a very effective tool, and we use sports as learning a lifetime activity that keeps the person healthy, which gives them a higher sense of well-being in their life. So it’s a lifelong benefit as well as an immediate rehabilitation benefit.