Wheelchairs Against Guns (W.A.G.) works to inform inner city youth of the dangers of gun violence. W.A.G. utilizes first-hand experience to paint a real picture of how gun violence can harm students, their families, and everyone in the community. Using their members’ disabilities as the proof, W.A.G. hopes to use their stories to deter students from engaging in gun violence. W.A.G. also works to educate students on the importance of staying in school and focusing on their education. To have W.A.G. visit your school and put on a gun violence prevention assembly, please contact Kareem at WheelchairsAgainstGuns@aol.com.

Our Purpose

W.A.G. is an organization of disabled men and women geared to bringing awareness of the consequences of guns outside of prison, and death. Also the violence it has in our communities. Our organization targets schools, group homes, after school programs, community centers and jails to share our personal stories, detail the horrific and life altering effects gun violence can cause. Told from two standpoints, our tales are both scare tactics and cautionary tales of the life many of our youth yearn to live. By bringing awareness we hope to save at least one child from a life of the streets, joining a gang, or picking up a gun. W.A.G. will teach the youth that gun violence affects more than the person who the shot is intended and how they could end up in a wheelchair for the rest of their lives like many of us in W.A.G. Though we mostly target and educate the youth, W.A.G. supports adults as well. We believe in the preservation of the life of the future. Some of our goals are as follows:

• Inform kids of gun violence and the effects it can have on their lives and others
• Speak to NYC schools targeting the academically challenged and violent
• Offer jobs to individuals in wheelchairs
• Expand worldwide
• Award students who show academic improvement helping parents who can’t afford to award their children for their achievements. (iPads, summer trips etc.). We will also donate computers to needy children for education and entertainment hoping to occupy their time with safe child friendly activities, leaving no time for street violence
• Encourage troubled teens to abandon their weapons and educate their mind
• Encourage as many youth to join and remain active in the organization even promoting those teens who have excelled in the program. We believe that given a chance and motivation our youth can find inner pride that won’t be influenced by street culture
• Visit hospitals to encourage newly injured spinal cord patients that life goes, inform them of all there is to know in living an independent productive life, assist with hands on tutorials, if need be

Gun Violence Education

Since education is a vital part of stopping gun violence, our organization provides gun violence education to teach inner city youth about today’s gun laws and provide real statistics on how many of their peers are dying because of gun violence. We utilize first-hand experience to paint a real picture of how gun violence harms them, their families, and everyone in the community.

Motivation for the Disabled

By visiting them in hospitals and providing encouragement, our organization offers recently disabled people the support they need to continue moving forward in their lives. We teach them to avoid relying on pain medications and show them that their lives have changed, but are not over, because they can still live a fulfilling life by working hard and living one day at a time.

Disabled Sports Program

As part of the United States Wheelchair Sports Fund, our organization is committed to encouraging the disabled through sports. We visit hospitals, talk to recently disabled people about what they can do with their new lives, and help them become involved in sports as a member of our team. Various wheelchair sports, such as rugby, are available for them to participate in.

Anti-Bullying Program

Bullying is a serious problem for today’s youth, so our organization offers inner city youth a source of support that gives them the strength and self-esteem to overcome bullying. We approach them as friends, instead of a counselors or authority figures, to show them that words will not hurt them and that they can rise above bullying. As people that have been bullied or bullied people, we are able to relate to them as friends and provide an outlet for them to express their feelings.