Team RWB
StoryApril 23, 2020
Each issue, the editorial staff of Military Embedded Systems will highlight a different charitable organization that benefits the military, veterans, and their families. We are honored to cover the technology that protects those who protect us every day. To back that up, our parent company – OpenSystems Media – will make a donation to every group we showcase on this page.
This issue we are highlighting Team RWB, a national nonprofit veterans’ service organization that works to solve the epidemic of isolation and loneliness through physical and social activity. Founder Mike Irwin, an Army combat veteran, instituted Team RWB in 2010 as a way to reach out to returning service personnel on a consistent basis in their own communities. The organization – which reports that it has 181 locations across the U.S., more than 86,000 members, and more than 1,300 veteran and civilian volunteers – strives to reach veterans by focusing on three core components: health, people, and purpose.
Team RWB aids veterans with health concerns by creating frequent opportunities for team members (known as “Eagles”) to connect through fitness, sports, and recreation to improve physical, mental, and emotional well-being. It connects people by creating authentic connections, reflected in an increased number of close relationships and improvements in teammates’ sense of belonging, purpose, and community engagement. It also aims to help members with a purposeful return to civilian life by engaging them in such experiences as leadership training and service projects that can help the members renew their self-identity and purpose in life.
The organization’s two core outreaches are the Chapter and Community Program and the Eagle Leadership Development Program, which works to develop community veteran leaders who will use their skills within their region and home chapter using evidence-based health and wellness practices to enrich members’ lives.
For more information on Team RWB, please visit https://www.teamrwb.org/.
