American Widow Project Launches New Program For Military Widows

AUSTIN, Texas - April 30, 2013 - PRLog -- Austin, TX – The American Widow Project (AWP), a nationally recognized non-profit organization dedicated to empowering and educating our nation’s military widows, is excited to announce the launch of its new program, WidowU.  Based in Austin, TX, the first-of-its-kind program is geared toward helping the spouses of our fallen heroes progress into successful and satisfying lives.  A series of scholarship-based courses and related resources help widows throughout the country attain skills and confidence in the face of profound tragedy. The new program leverages the local Austin community and communities across the U.S. to ensure enduring support and encouragement following a widow’s return from an event. Local Austin business owners, mentors, fitness fanatics, and individuals are critical to the success of WidowU .

WidowU focuses on four common areas of struggle experienced by surviving spouses in the aftermath of their hero’s passing: Education, Health & Fitness, Pursuing One’s Passion and Overcoming Obstacles.  As one former attendee stated: “At WidowU, we are not connected by our tragedies, but by the strength we have within us to overcome them and prove to ourselves that our pain, our suffering, and our struggle will not define us – Tati”. WidowU is about overcoming tragedy through strength.

To learn more about WidowU, please visit www.widowu.org. This new site is an extension of the organization and one of the key ways in which the AWP provides new and unique outreach support services to military widows across the country.

About the American Widow Project:

Since 2001, over 6,600 U.S. service members have lost their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan. This number does not include the thousands more that have lost their lives due to sudden illness, accident, homicide or those that have taken their own lives due to post traumatic stress disorder. At the same time, more than 3,600 young military widows face their worst nightmare when they receive that dreadful knock on the door by two military in uniform notifying them of their spouse’s death.

While the service member’s sacrifice is often acknowledged by society, many simply forget or fail to recognize the sacrifice of the spouse who is now left a grieving military widow. Oftentimes the invisible wounds of military widows are disregarded due to age or a simple lack of knowledge and understanding.

The American Widow Project recognizes the sacrifices made by the families of our fallen and believes that no military widow should feel alone in her grief.  Each military widow deserves the opportunity and tangible tools available to help rebuild her life. Because of that, the American Widow Project provides the vital peer-to-peer, emotional, and educational support necessary to maximize success, healing and hope for a brighter future.

For more information about the American Widow Project and how you can help, please visit: www.americanwidowproject.org