Wounded Veterans Come Together to Rebuild Local Church

HOUSTON, April 7, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- With hammers in hand, wounded veterans answered the call to help restore a church in need of serious repairs. The Mission Continues, Wounded Warrior Project^® (WWP), and other service organizations volunteered to put community first and make a difference for a local Houston church.

This community initiative was part of the Alumni program, which creates support through shared experiences and brings injured veterans together to build camaraderie. By bonding through events and programs, wounded veterans learn they are not alone. The WWP Alumni program is one of 20 direct programs and services offered free of charge to wounded service members, their caregivers, and families.

WWP Alumni learned more about The Mission Continues as they joined the other veterans for the project, and made new friends along the way. The Mission Continues is committed to bringing veterans together, and to work in local communities to continue its sense of service while making a difference for those in need.

Daniel Cantu, Marine Corps veteran and WWP Alumnus, provided a helping hand in the church project. "I volunteered because there is no better feeling than when you accomplish positive community work. I like knowing that my time and energy really improved the church's condition. Our half day of labor will last for many years at the church," he said.

The volunteers painted the entire church, replaced old rotted wood throughout, added handrails at the church's entrance, removed garbage, planted flowers, and leveled a large pile of gravel for the driveway. In teams, they spearheaded their own projects and when completed, migrated to other teams to assist with completion.

"I shoveled crushed gravel into wheelbarrows and moved it to level the area behind the church. I also helped with painting and loading all the garbage," Daniel said.

Throughout the day, neighbors stopped to assist and watch the organizations work to improve the local church on a historical street. The enthusiasm from neighbors as they watched the transformation take place at their place of worship gave the group a sense of neighborhood pride.

WWP Alumni, The Mission Continues veterans, and other volunteers enjoyed time together and a team lunch of crawfish and brisket towards the end of the hard day's work.

"I met a lot of people and loved communicating with other veterans in the Houston area," Daniel commented. "It's great to get out and see veterans working together and smiling, and very rewarding to see the before and after of this project. I've received nothing but positive energy from everyone at WWP and I enjoy participating in WWP events in the Houston area."  

More than 100,000 wounded veterans, caregivers, and family members receive access to WWP's 20 direct programs and services, all of which are free of charge. In February 2016, Wounded Warrior Project served 25,853 wounded veterans through one or more of the WWP program pillars of body, mind, economic empowerment, and engagement. For more information on WWP programs, visit https://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/programs.

WWP's partnership with The Mission Continues is part of WWP's Programmatic and Community Investments efforts, which are part of a larger plan to foster a network of high caliber organizations that provide innovative and effective services addressing the most pressing needs of our nation's wounded veterans, their caregivers, and families. These investments will serve wounded service members by teaming up with like-minded organizations to impact the lives of our nation's wounded. Wounded Warrior Project^® (WWP) focuses on providing funding to exceptional organizations that operate in underserved areas, fulfill a need outside the scope of WWP's direct programs and services, or enhance existing WWP programs with services or support that amplify our existing work. The organizations that receive funding will be required to regularly report back on the impact of the services offered to ensure that these investments are effective in working toward WWP's vision of fostering the most successful, well-adjusted generation of wounded service members in our nation's history.

About Wounded Warrior Project
The mission of Wounded Warrior Project^® (WWP) is to honor and empower Wounded Warriors. WWP's purpose is to raise awareness and to enlist the public's aid for the needs of injured service members, to help injured servicemen and women aid and assist each other, and to provide unique, direct programs and services to meet their needs. WWP is a national, nonpartisan organization headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida. To get involved and learn more, visit woundedwarriorproject.org.

About The Mission Continues
The Mission Continues empowers veterans who are adjusting to life at home to find purpose through community impact. We redeploy veterans on new missions in their communities, so that their actions will inspire future generations to serve. Our operations in cities across the country deploy veteran volunteers alongside non-profit partners and community leaders to solve some of the most challenging issues facing our communities: improving community education resources, eliminating food deserts, mentoring at-risk youth and more. Through this unique model, veterans build new skills and networks that help them successfully reintegrate to life after the military while making long-term, sustainable transformations in communities and inspiring future generations to serve.

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SOURCE Wounded Warrior Project