Helping families recover from injury.
Toyota’s Way Forward Fund is a new initiative to support people impacted by significant injuries, starting with a focus on children recovering from traumatic brain injury (TBI).
By investing in and partnering with the TBI care community, the Way Forward Fund will address gaps in TBI funding for children, support health equity and strengthen the recovery journey for kids, families and caregivers.
Introducing The Way Forward Fund
WHAT WE'RE DOING
To begin, we’re investing resources in organizations dedicated to improving the care and recovery for children affected by TBI in Michigan and Texas.
Our efforts will focus on three main priorities:
Operational programs
Recovery, rehabilitation and support services for kids, families and caregivers
Research and development
Advancement of technologies & learnings to improve care and outcomes for pediatric TBI
Equipment
Increased access to tools and resources for TBI care & recovery
Why We're Doing It
The Way Forward Fund is a unique way for Toyota to realize its vision of creating mobility for all by implementing the Toyota Way values of continuous improvement and respect for people.
More than funding, The Way Forward will leverage Toyota partnerships, know-how, support and connections to drive new ideas and effect change.
Why TBI1
TBI is an invisible injury that can cause problems with speaking or understanding, movement or mobility, thinking or memory and personality or mood.
2.8 million Americans sustain a TBI each year
Children account for 32% of TBI-related emergency department visits, while they only account for 22% of the US population
Brain injury is the leading cause of death and disability in U.S. children
Children's mortality rate is 30% higher one year out from initial care at emergency departments with low pediatric readiness2
Current TBI funding is focused almost exclusively on adults, with minimal resources available to advance care and outcomes for children.
1 Brain Injury Association of America, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
2 2013 National Pediatric Readiness Project (NPRP) assessment, an initiative of the EMSC Innovation and Improvement Center
LEARN MORE
Through the Way Forward Fund, we aim to enhance the support that children and families need once they’ve experienced a TBI. That they might find a way forward to recovering their independence and mobility.
