Jacqueline Larsen is one of the 14.3 million military and veteran caregivers in the United States, according to a RAND study.
Larsen’s husband, Jeff, was medically retired from the Air Force with several injuries, including a traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder. A fall on their farm in West End, North Carolina, left Jeff quadriplegic, and Larsen caring for him, their animals and two kids full-time.
With the help of a Dole Caregiver Fellowship, Larsen is educating military caregivers about resources she wishes she had when she first took charge of her husband’s care. The fellowship is through the Elizabeth Dole Foundation, which advocates for legislation addressing the needs of military and veteran caregivers.
“One of the many things that I’m hoping to do with this new platform is to help people identify resources to help them with whatever challenges they are going through, whether it’s mental health, whether it’s things with your kids, whether it’s resources that you’re trying to get to just make it day by day,” Larsen said. “I am just so, so thankful and honored and just excited to be able to help others and have purpose again.”
Larsen is one of 20 military caregivers selected for the fellowship, which kicked off in May. The fellows will spend the next two years learning about additional resources for military caregivers and advocating for more.
Becoming a military caregiver and facing all the difficulties that come with it is often unexpected, as was the case for Larsen.
Larsen met Jeff in 2020 before the Covid-19 pandemic started. Their love was instant, and by July 2020, they eloped.
In August, a day before the couple was hosting a wedding reception for their friends and family, Jeff fell while working on the farm. He broke the C4 and C5 vertebrae in his spine, rendering him quadriplegic, unable to move his arms and legs. After years of therapy, Jeff has since regained his ability to move his arms.
Jeff’s fall left Larsen suddenly and fully in charge of her husband, her six-year-old and her unborn son. Larsen said she was made aware that caregiver resources existed, like the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ Caregiver Support Program or the Wounded Warrior Project. However, she said information was among all the medical and service transition paperwork thrust upon her while her husband went from hospital to hospital.
Other military caregivers shared similar stories with Larsen, recalling their own experiences of reading through informational packets that featured caregiving resources while they actively processing their service member or veteran’s injuries.
“They don’t sink in,” Larsen said. “It’s given to you in such a time of trauma that you’re not able to really identify what you have access to, or what do you even need. You don’t know what you need yet because you’re just trying to survive.”
It’s why Larsen is so excited about the Dole Caregiver Fellowship. She’s thankful for the resources she’s already received, and she’s now working to connect others with the programs. One of her first chances to do so will be this month at the VA Fayetteville Coastal health care’s Caregiver Resource Class on June 24 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the health system’s Fayetteville VA Medical Center on Ramsey Street.
Many of the programs provide support groups for military caregivers. They also address the role’s difficulties, including employment. Almost a quarter of military caregivers have had job disruptions, with 14% having to quit work or school early due to their caregiving roles, according to the RAND study, which was commissioned by the Elizabeth Dole Foundation in 2024.
Caring for her husband, her sons and the farm led Larsen to leave her job as a clinical research project manager.
“Quitting my job was one of the hardest things that I had to do throughout this entire process,” Larsen said.
Military caregivers’ employment issues come as they spend an estimated $8,583 each year on out-of-pocket caregiving costs, according to the RAND study. These costs can especially throw military caregivers caring for service members and veterans under 60 into financial instability, with 70% struggling to pay their bills, the study found.
Larsen, a military caregiver caring for a veteran under 60, said her family is working to find means to regain some of their financial independence. They are slowly turning their hobby farm into an income source by selling eggs and planting a cut-your-own flower field.
The stress of financial insecurity and caregiver responsibilities often leads to health issues for the caregivers. Forty-two percent of military caregivers meet the criteria to be diagnosed with depression, and 20% of those caregivers had thought about taking their own lives, according to RAND.
Larsen said she and Jeff went to marriage counseling after the accident, and her entire family is in individual therapy.
“I’m super thankful, because most of the time when I talk to my therapist, I talk to her about our normal people problems, not caregiving-related problems,” Larsen said. “But caregiving I think it does add an extra level of stress on an already stressful kind of relationship.”
Larsen also said her support network, made up of Jeff’s former unit, her friends and her parents, keeps her upbeat. They also pitch in to care for Jeff, the farm and the kids.
Access to an in-home aid five days a week between 7:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. has also been a huge help, Larsen said. She said it gives her the time to take her kids to school and activities, run errands and work on the farm.
However, Larsen said there is always caregiving for her to do.
“I haven’t slept through the night since 2020. He needs to be turned because he can’t turn himself. So, I have to get up at night to help him,” Larsen said. “The care, it’s a continual thing.”
Besides helping educate other military caregivers about existing programs, Larsen will help the Elizabeth Dole Foundation advocate for more resources at the local, state and federal levels. She and other Dole Caregiver fellows have already met with members of Congress.
One simple thing Larsen said people can do to help wounded service members and veterans and their caregivers is educate themselves on handicap parking and respect the rules of handicap drop-off zones.
“It’s so important for the people who genuinely need it,” Larsen said. “It’s not a convenience thing; that is the only way they’re going to be able to get out of their vehicle.”
CityView Reporter Morgan Casey is a corps member with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms. Morgan’s reporting focuses on health care issues in and around Cumberland County and can be supported through the News Foundation of Greater Fayetteville.