In 2015, Headway began its partnership with Erie County Medical Center (ECMC) in administering a new Quality of Life grant through the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation.

Wordplay - Compassionate Healing, One Page at a Time invites WNY Veterans who are experiencing PTSD, brain injuries, and/or orthopedic injuries to participate in a reading therapy program based on Bibliotherapy. This is an expressive therapy that uses an individual's relationship to the content of books and poetry and other written words to reinforce other types of medical therapy.

Vist our website to find out more about our Veterans Initiatives

At this time, the funding cycle of the initial grant has ended and we are seeking additional funds to continue the program and increase its capacity. The program has attracted over 45 participants to date and meets on the first and third Thursday of each month from 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm at Headway’s headquarters at 2635 Delaware Avenue in Buffalo, NY.

We are currently seeking $1,000 to continue the program and increase the selection of titles, currently purchased through e-books. Headway is particularly interested in purchasing books specifically geared toward positive outcomes of trauma.

At the heart of this type of reading therapy is to utilize the written word (essays, fiction, drama, and poetry) for ‘pleasure’ and ‘power.’ To progress from various kinds of ‘Illth’(illness, ill-being) to increased degrees of ‘Health’ (healing/ wellness/ ‘wealth’/well-being).

The immediate and long-term functions and benefits of reading for Veterans include the following:

• Improvement of short-term memory

• Improvement of social skills—conversation, attention, speaking manners.         

• Increased ability to see things from different points of view.

• Enhanced Empathy

Reading can be a refuge that enlightens, entertains, soothes the psyche, offers a rich and stimulating alternative to watching television, and provides a beneficial form of solitude that nourishes self-reliance.

Reading creates new pathways in the brain and helps create a “royal road to higher consciousness.”

Reading reinforces therapy, teaches coping strategies, eases stress, and as novelist Amy Tan said, reading “opens windows” and “turns on a light in the little room in my head.”

Reading gives shape to verbal worlds that mirror the real world outside of books and art and the inner world of imagination. It makes the reader more aware of the complexity of inner and outer reality and the richness of human character.

Please help us grow this valuable program by making a donation today during Spring it On!

Thank you for your interest and support of Headway of WNY, Inc.