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Amber Meadows never knew her husband, Wade, when he wasn’t wounded. When they married in 2006 right after he returned from a tour of duty in Iraq with Air Force Security Forces, he was already suffering from injuries that, over the subsequent years of their marriage, have deteriorated to include severe post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury.

Despite his initial injuries, Meadows’ husband remained on active duty until he was medically retired in 2018 as a result of additional injuries following subsequent moves and deployments. That’s when Meadows became a full-time caregiver, as well as mother to their daughter Charli, and gave up any aspirations for an independent career that would have earned money for the family.

“As an unpaid caregiver, I have to be able to help navigate a space both mentally and physically for my husband,” she said. “It’s up to me to support him and our daughter, and it provides little downtime for me to recharge.”

Earning a regular income while caring for her husband and daughter has remained a challenge. Early in their marriage, Meadows managed to finish an online bachelor’s degree in human resources management through the University of Phoenix, hoping that would lead to full-time employment. But as Wade’s injuries worsened, she could only take on part-time and temporary work from home.

More recently, Meadows enrolled in a dual degree program at University of Maryland Global Campus program (UMGC). The program lets her earn an MBA and a master’s in marketing. She was well along in the MBA portion of the program when she received news that will allow her to finish her studies without any financial burden: Meadows is among this year’s recipients of a Pillars of Strength Scholarship.��

The full-tuition scholarship is specifically designed for caregivers of injured servicemembers. The welcome news comes just as her daughter approaches college age.

Meadows said her goal is to work with veterans, either through Veterans Affairs or a nonprofit organization like the Elizabeth Dole Foundation, which provides services and support to those who care for injured, ill or wounded veterans.

“I would like to work with caregiving families,” she said, “just because I have come to find out how little resources there are.”

After nearly 20 years, she knows her husband’s situation is not going to get any better.��

“It's been a long go,” she said. “But we both come from military-based families. It just is kind of what you grew up knowing. I was not unfamiliar with what could happen. And he's worked really hard to get where he's at.”

She is helped by having her parents nearby in Belleville, Illinois, just outside St. Louis, where she had met Wade at Scott Air Force Base. One of the hardest parts for her, she said, is that Wade’s injuries are not visible, causing people they meet to wonder why he and Meadows aren’t working traditional jobs.

“He’s six-foot-four, covered in tattoos,” she said. “He’s a big guy, and he looks fine. It’s pretty disheartening when people say, ‘Everything should be great. What are you talking about?’”

She said getting the phone call to inform her about the scholarship was exhilarating for both her and her husband.

“This really impacts my family in a positive way,” Meadows said. “I had worked hard to make sure I would have no student loans, but I didn’t see a path forward without the scholarship. I’m just really appreciative.”

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