MISSION

Warrior Wellness Solutions (WWS) is a 501(c) 3 nonprofit organization providing personalized Functional Medicine, Integrative Nutrition Health Coaching, Rehabilitative and Adaptive Exercise, mindfulness, stress management, resiliency training, and wellness education to Wounded, Ill and Injured Warriors (WII) their families and caregivers.  Our programs are tailored to veterans and service members who incurred a physical or mental injury, illnesses or wounds co-incident to their military service.

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SUMMARY OF PROGRAMS

• Functional Medicine and Integrative Nutrition Health Coaching

• Rehabilitative and Adaptive Exercise

• Mindfulness, Stress Management, and Resiliency Training

• Wellness Education

• Recreational Therapy and Adaptive Athlete Support

 

WHO WE ARE

Warrior Wellness Solutions (WWS) is a Durham, North Carolina based GuideStar Platinum rated 501(c) 3 nonprofit organization.  WWS has received Letters of Support validating our programming from the Institute of Functional Medicine and the Functional Medicine Coaching Academy.  WWS has achieved recognition as an America’s Warrior Partnership Four Star Alliance Program of Excellence, and as a Great Nonprofits “Top-Rated Nonprofit”.   WWS has provided its training to thousands of Wounded, Ill, and Injured (WII) military service members, veterans, their families and caregivers, and was recognized with an award for its service with the US Marine Corps' Wounded Warrior Regiment.  Warrior Wellness Solutions received the 2020 Newman’s Own Award for being an instrumental organization in the fight to support our nation’s military and veteran communities.  The WWS team was recognized in a private ceremony by General Mark A. Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Fisher House Foundation , Military Times, Newman's Own, and Newman's Own Foundation.

 

Many of our nation’s WII warriors struggle physically, emotionally and socially to find viable support to help them redefine a life of mission and purpose and to achieve optimal health and wellness. The VA and DoD offer training and education however, services that address chronic disease, lifestyle, overall health and wellness and restore a sense of purpose are lacking for many veterans. Given our nationwide industry relationships, we are can scale our work to any level we can fund.

 

Warrior Wellness Solutions (WWS) guides our clients to:

• Improve their physical and mental health, reduce dependency on medications, and mitigate risk of suicidal.

• Reduce chronic pain and inflammation, improve tissue repair and functional movement.

• Reduce and mitigate the symptoms of traumatic brain injury (TBI), post-traumatic stress (PTS), blast overpressure, heavy metals toxicity, chronic stress, environmental exposures and sleep deprivation through lifestyle modifications working in concert with clinicians.

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"A Functional Medicine–trained health coach is an extremely valuable member of a collaborative care team who help patients make lasting lifestyle changes in diet, exercise, stress reduction, sleep, and other modifiable lifestyle factors.  Health coaches makes the clinician’s treatment protocol more effective and improves patient compliance and outcomes by providing individualized support. 

credit The Functional Medicine Coaching Academy 

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SUMMARY OF CLIENTS SERVED 
We serve an average of 80 new clients per year and have hundreds of additional clients served yearly who have already completed our Initial 6-month program and moved into our Long Term Continuum of Care. 

 

ANNUAL OPERATING BUDGET

In 2018 our annual operating budget was $150,000.00 with 97% of donations funding direct programming.   We have successfully completed a third-party independent audit by an accredited and licensed CPA.

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LEADERSHIP 

Executive Director & Founder - US Marine Corps Veteran Elijah Sacra is an Clinical Exercise Physiologist and Functional Medicine Health Coach who has served on the Executive Roundtable and Vision Sharing Board for Non-Profit and Community Participation in Achieving World Class Standards of Care and Services for Wounded Warriors at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, and as a coach for TEAM Marine Corps for the 2015 Department of Defense Warrior Games.   He has been educated in Pain Care Skills by members of the DoD Wounded Warrior Pain Care Initiative based at Walter Reed.  Elijah served as Treasurer for the North Carolina Veterans Business Association, worked for Ernst & Young in Expatriate Tax Accounting, holds a Certificate in Nonprofit Management from Duke University and is trained in Logic Model Reporting by the RAND Corporation.  He currently serves as the Director for Functional Movement and Rehabilitation for the Special Operations Health Initiatives Medical Advisory Board, on the Durham NC VA Veteran Engagement Panel for Research Partnership and served on the National Veterans Administration Veteran Engagement Panel for Patient Centered Strategies to Improve Pain Management.  He is a 2018 Patient Scholarship Recipient for the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute. Elijah was chosen to present at the Institute of Functional Medicine's (IFM) 2019 Annual International Conference (AIC) on Stress, Pain, and Addiction: Transformative Treatments and Innovative Solutions, as well as, "Pain In the Military: Patient and Practitioner Perspectives".  He is a graduate of the Public Health Leadership program at UNC's Gillings School of Public Health.

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Director of Operations & Co-Founder -  US Marine Corps Veteran spouse and mother Clarissa Kussin is a traditionally trained Naturopathic Doctor, Functional Medicine Health Coach, Yoga teacher, and wellness educator.  She helps clients move from “Pain to Performance” using mindfulness-based yoga, and nutrition education.  She empowers her clients through health coaching, restoring energy and maximizing mental clarity through learning breath connection, increasing nutrient density for cellular regeneration, cultivating emotional wellness and rebuilding neuromuscular connections.  She works in concert with physicians, physical therapists, occupational therapists, and mental health practitioners while delivering services to populations under clinical care.  These include individuals living with chronic pain, Traumatic Brain Injuries, Post-Traumatic Stress, amputees, cancer patients, the blind, and patients recovering from surgeries and burns.  Clarissa’s coaching philosophy and methodology is grounded in the principles of Functional Medicine Health Coaching, using nutrition education, the psychology of eating, mind-body medicine and positive psychology.  Using a science-based, systems-oriented approach, Clarissa addresses the underlying causes of disease and engages her clients in a therapeutic partnership that considers the whole person, not just an isolated set of symptoms.  Clarissa uses a personalized approach to nutrition rooted in the principle that food is medicine.  She focuses on a complete systems based approach using whole foods, meditation and breath work that bring health, energy and vitality, reducing toxicity and inflammation to the body.  Clarissa is an Addiction Recovery and Psychedelic Integration Coach and has had extensive training with the Foundation for Shamanic Studies.

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Practice & Curriculum 

• Our practice and curriculum consists of vetted evidence-based practices  targeting the needs of the community we serve tracked with Biometric Measures and Assessments.

• We have Letters of Support from the Institute of Functional Medicine and Functional Medicine Coaching Academy

• We use the LivingMatrix Functional Medicine software that integrates PROMIS10 clearly tracking our outcomes.  

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CONTACT INFORMATION 

Elijah Sacra 

Executive Director

919.525.4693

e.sacra@warriorwellnesssolutions.org

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