Aiding Veterans' Families Helped Heal Robin Kelleher

My father served in the Army in Vietnam and was gone a lot. In 2002, I married a Marine and moved to Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. My husband immediately deployed to Iraq. Again, I had a feeling of isolation.

A close family friend suffered a traumatic brain injury while serving in Iraq, and I wanted to do something to help families struggling with injury and loss. We decided to organize a run for people to show their support for military families. Following that, we founded a nonprofit, Hope for the Warriors, which focuses on well-being programs. 

We began in North Carolina and grew to serve more than 36,000 service members.

The more I got to know other deployed families, the more I saw how they struggle. The divorce rate is so high. And my own marriage wasn’t immune. My husband and I got divorced in 2013. It wasn’t easy, but I had the community. By helping others, it helped me to heal. Plus, it gave me a different perspective on my dad. I was able to reconnect with him. These days my dad is my biggest supporter.

Robin Kelleher, 56, of Annandale, Virginia, was a 2021 AARP Purpose Prize fellow.

—As told to Andrea Atkins