Carrying Forward a Legacy of Independence & Inclusion

Westchester Independent Living Center (WILC) is proud to announce the Joe Bravo “Play it Forward” Scholarship, a dedicated scholarship fund to help individuals with disabilities access the life-changing opportunities that sports can provide.

This scholarship was established in honor of Joe Bravo’s extraordinary legacy. For more than four decades, Joe Bravo dedicated his life to a passion for empowering people with disabilities to live independently, pursue their goals, and fully participate in their communities.

Joe’s other greatest passion was adaptive sports.

At the age of 16, Joe was first exposed to wheelchair basketball and athletes with disabilities who were leading independent lifestyles. Throughout his years as WILC’s Executive Director, Joe maintained his involvement with wheelchair sports – particularly wheelchair basketball.  Joe played on numerous wheelchair basketball teams. In 1988, he was a member of the Paralympic Wheelchair Basketball Team. His longest association was with the NY Rollin’ KNICKS – a National Wheelchair Basketball Association (NWBA) Division 1 team, which is co-sponsored by the New York KNICKS, Madison Square Garden, and WILC – where he began as a player and in later years became a Coach. Joe also played wheelchair tennis, participated wheelchair road racing, enjoyed swimming, jet skied, and proudly and successfully tandem skydived. Read: Joe Bravo: A Story of a Life Well Lived

Joe believed deeply that everyone deserves the chance to discover what they’re capable of, and sports became one of the many ways he helped others do exactly that.

A Game-Changing Scholarship:

For many individuals with disabilities, participating in sports can be life-changing. Athletics are a powerful outlet for building confidence, independence, and lifelong friendships.

But opportunities often come with barriers: costs such as transportation to practices and tournaments and adaptive equipment, for example, can put participation out of reach—even when the desire and determination are there.

The Joe Bravo Scholarship was established to help provide financial assistance to youth and adults with disabilities to help offset costs associated with participating in adaptive sports and recreation.

Scholarship support may include:

• Adaptive sports equipment
• Transportation to practices, games, and tournaments
• Camp registration
• League or program fees
• Other participation-related expenses

Support Adaptive Sports and Celebrate NY Sports History:

Enter to Win a Signed NY KNICKS Jersey!

WILC is raffling off a New York Knicks jersey, signed by the 2026 NBA Champion Mitchell Robinson (#23). Your raffle entry supports the Joe Bravo Play It Forward Scholarship while giving you a chance to own a unique piece of Knicks history.

Raffle closes: August 31, 2026
Winner announced: Early September
Must complete transaction in PayPal to be entered.