Lealman Exchange is home to a variety of tenant organizations who serve our community and beyond. Today, we are chatting with Mike DeLancey, CEO of Wounded Warriors Abilities Ranch.
Tell us a little about yourself and your organization: I was shot by a sniper in Iraq. The injury left me paralyzed from the chest down and permanently in a wheelchair. We started the organization to get veterans out and active within the community no matter what their disabilities are. A few years after we started the organization, we found that adaptive sports were a perfect way to do this and most of our programming revolves around clinics and playing those sports. We also host various functions locally throughout the year.
Tell us who you serve: We serve all veterans of all eras with a focus on those in wheelchairs.
What drives your mission? The physical and emotional growth that veterans have when they realize there is more to life when they start getting active within our events and eventually out into the community. We have a lot of veterans who first became involved while in-patient at the two VA hospitals, Bay Pines and James A Haley, and are now leading some of our teams!
Do you have an accomplishment you are particularly proud of you’d like to share? This past year and next year we are hosting the USWRA wheelchair rugby nationals and our D1 team took home the 1st place trophy by the largest point margin in sport history. We also had multiple athletes compete and coach in the 2024 Paralympics in Paris!
What programs or opportunities are available through your organization to our Lealman neighbors? We have clinics and practices throughout the month that they can come out to spectate and participate in.
To learn more about Wounded Warriors Abilities Ranch, visit https://