A spinal cord injury or traumatic brain injury can change nearly every part of daily life, including the budget. The High Fives Foundation’s Empowerment Fund helps eligible people with life-changing injuries cover recovery needs and pursue goals related to outdoor adventure sports.
What the Empowerment Fund Covers
The Empowerment Fund provides need-based grants of up to $25,000.
Approved grants are paid directly to service providers rather than to the applicant.
Funding is available across six categories:
- Adaptive sports equipment
- Healing Network services
- Medical equipment
- Programs
- Living expenses
- Emergency care or injury-related expenses
Which categories you can access depends on how your injury happened, so it’s important to understand the applicant groups before applying.
Who Qualifies
The foundation serves people with life-changing injuries such as spinal cord injuries, traumatic brain injuries, amputations and other mobility-limiting injuries.
Applicants generally fall into three groups:
- Injured during an outdoor adventure sport: Applicants in this group can apply for funding across all six categories.
- Service-connected veterans: Veterans can apply for adaptive sports equipment under the foundation’s five pillar sports.
- People injured in inertia-based or non-sports accidents: Applicants in this group can also apply for adaptive sports equipment under the foundation’s five pillar sports.
High Fives’ five pillars of sport are Snow, Surf, Bike, Dirt and Fish.
Everyone should complete the foundation’s eligibility form to determine whether they qualify and what type of funding they can request.
Application Cycles
The Empowerment Fund currently has two grant cycles each year.
Cycle 1
- Applications: January 1–30
- Review period: February
- Decision notifications: By March 1
Cycle 2
- Applications: July 1–31
- Review period: August
- Decision notifications: By September 1
Applications must be submitted with at least 24 hours remaining in the application window to allow time for processing and approval, so don’t wait until the last minute.
How to Apply
- Review the Terms of Eligibility on the High Fives Foundation website.
- Complete the eligibility form during an open application window.
- Follow the application instructions provided based on your eligibility.
- Wait for your decision at the end of the review period.
If you have questions about the Empowerment Fund, email applications@highfivesfoundation.org or call (530) 587-4453.
Relief Recap
The High Fives Foundation’s Empowerment Fund provides grants of up to $25,000 to help eligible people recovering from life-changing injuries.
People injured during outdoor adventure sports may qualify for assistance across all six funding categories, while eligible service-connected veterans and people injured in non-sports accidents may qualify for adaptive sports equipment connected to the foundation’s five pillar sports.
The program currently has two application cycles each year, opening in January and July.
If you’re navigating other disability-related costs too, our hardship grants roundup has more resources worth a look.
