Connect

In 2024, UVA Health allocated more than $265,000 in grant funding to 42 local nonprofit organizations — 24 in the Prince William Health District; 18, in the Rappahannock-Rapidan Health District. These funds support our communities' most vulnerable populations, reflecting our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, and addressing healthcare workforce development. 

Now, Connect takes a closer look at how Willing Warriors — one of the 2024 awardees in the Prince William Health District — is benefiting from the UVA Health grant it received in 2023:

For many military veterans, the transition between active military duty and family life can be difficult. They experience distinctive challenges, stressors, and traumas from deployment and combat that may lead to mental health issues. Willing Warriors, a privately funded 501 (c)(3) charitable organization, offers cost-free getaways from the hospital environment so veterans and their families can relax and reconnect.  

“UVA Health has supported our Warrior Bike Ride for the past several years with medical volunteers," says Willing Warrior Executive Director Sarah Ford. "Through this support, we have developed wonderful relationships with the UVA Health team. I was made aware of the available grant funding through connections made with UVA Health personnel. I knew applying for funding for a moral injury program was an appropriate way to continue the partnership of UVA Health and Willing Warriors by meeting an unaddressed need in the community.”

Origin Story

The organization dates back to December 2006, when a small group of Haymarket’s Park Valley Church leaders hosted a “taste of home” Christmas for military service members undergoing treatment at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. The event ignited a passion and they continued hosting similar events at other military hospitals in the national capital area. The idea to establish a dedicated retreat property for warriors was sparked. 

In March 2013, land was acquired — and July 5, 2015, the Warrior Retreat at Bull Run was established. 

When Ford heard about the organization, she immediately contacted them and volunteered. Her husband was on active duty in the U.S. Navy, assigned to the Pentagon in 2015. They'd moved here from a small submarine community in Kings Bay, Georgia. "I was looking for a way to feel connected to the military and give back to those families who were dealing with the effects of a service-related injury or illness," she recalls. "When I heard the founders, Shirley and John Dominick, speak about opening a Warrior Retreat, I immediately knew I wanted to get involved and started volunteering with Willing Warriors.” 

Rebuilding Lives

The getaways offer educational programs and recreational activities, including seminars on issues surrounding post-traumatic stress (PTS) and traumatic brain injury (TBI). The goal of these retreats is for veterans and family members to leave with tools to rebuild their lives.

Housed in Haymarket, the retreats offer a respite from where the soldiers are being treated at various hospitals. Their mission speaks to the UVA Health behavioral and mental health priority, as identified by the Community Health Needs Assessment Study Reports, which specify the most pressing health needs in our community among the most vulnerable populations. It also speaks to UVA Health’s strategic plan goal of cultivating communities and belonging for all — by reaching out to care for members of the military community who may be struggling. 

Healing Journey

In 2023, UVA Health awarded Willing Warriors a $10,000 grant specifically to offer three sessions of the Moral Injury Warrior Program at the Warrior Retreat at Bull Run. Moral injury is a deep psychological distress resulting from actions or a lack of action contradicting a person’s ethical or moral code. Distress is often tied to feelings of guilt, shame, and betrayal. Moral injury, such as PTS and TBI, can lead to suicide. 

The Moral Injury Program includes intensive sessions for 45 active duty military members from the Soldier Recovery Unit (SRU) at Fort Belvoir that takes care of the U.S. Army’s most critically injured. At the retreat, soldiers receive much needed mentorship and counseling services. Because of the grant, Willing Warriors experienced dedicated sessions and carefully crafted time on grounds to foster their healing journey. They used intentional team building and personal growth activities to promote resiliency. The grant funding paid for the meals and materials. The speakers and instructors donated their services for all three sessions, which greatly reduced the program's cost. 

'Amazing Accomplishment'

Ford praises the impact of the grant-funded program as tremendous. “Lives were not only changed  — but have been saved. The outgoing commander of the SRU reported during his Change of Command Ceremony this month, no lives have been lost from the SRU because of soldier suicide. What an amazing accomplishment! The Warrior Retreat is proud to partner with UVA Health to make sure stories like this continue,” she says.   

The program was so successful — Willing Warriors applied for and received another UVA Health grant of $5,000 in 2024, to expand the program.