Home Base, a Red Sox Foundation and Massachusetts General Hospital Program, announced June 28, 2018 it is the recipient of a multi-year, $65 million philanthropic grant from Wounded Warrior Project (WWP) to continue participation in the Warrior Care Network, a first-of-its-kind medical care network connecting wounded veterans and their families with top-notch, individualized mental health care.
“We know — through data outcomes and through the warriors, themselves — that the treatment provided at Home Base works.”
The gift is the second largest in the history of Mass General.
“We are grateful to Wounded Warrior Project for their steadfast support and ongoing commitment in helping the men and women who have defended this great country heal and reclaim their lives,” says Michael Allard, chief operating officer of Home Base. “This remarkable gift will reinforce our ability to provide both care and hope to thousands of veterans and military family members across the nation.”
Established in 2009, Home Base is dedicated to healing the “invisible wounds of war” including post-traumatic stress and traumatic brain injury through clinical care, wellness, education and research. In 2015, Home Base joined WWP as a founding partner of Warrior Care Network along with the UCLA Health, Rush University Medical Center and Emory Healthcare. With an initial grant from WWP, Home Base expanded its outpatient clinic and established a two-week Intensive Clinical Program (ICP) open to veterans across the nation.
A Significant and Transformative Gift
“Our ICP has served veterans and family members from 42 states over the past three years,” says retired Brig. Gen. Jack Hammond, executive director of Home Base. “This new, significant gift is transformative; it will allow us to double the number of veterans and family members we care for while expanding our treatment programs for brain injuries and mental health.”
According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, 20 veterans die by suicide every day, and one in three return home with an invisible wound. The WWP gift will allow Home Base to increase the number of veterans and families it serves, and will fuel the establishment of new models of care, including a dual diagnosis intensive outpatient clinic for veterans struggling with opioid and substance use disorder challenges and a weekend intensive clinical program to allow better access to care that is more convenient for veterans’ schedules.
“We send warriors in the greatest need to this critical program through Wounded Warrior Project’s Warrior Care Network,” says Michael Linnington, chief executive officer, WWP. “We know — through data outcomes and through the warriors, themselves — that the treatment provided at Home Base works. All of us at Wounded Warrior Project are proud to support the program and reinvest in their truly life-changing program.”
“We are grateful to Wounded Warrior Project for supporting our work and mission with this generous donation … “
More Work to Do
“Home Base was created to help fill an important need for our veterans and their families, and in the nearly 10 years since the program’s creation, it has become a model contemplated and replicated by other institutions across the country,” said Red Sox Chairman Tom Werner. “We are grateful to Wounded Warrior Project for supporting our work and mission with this generous donation, and look forward to expanding the program’s reach, and helping more families impacted by the invisible wounds of war.”
“Home Base is 94 percent philanthropically funded, and while other organizations may run on a grateful patient model, we run on a grateful nation model. Aside from this gift, Home Base must still raise significant funds for the mission,” explains Mr. Allard. “The need is great and collectively, we have more work to do.”
To learn more about how you can support Home Base, please contact us.
This story first appeared in MGH Hotline.
