Erin W. has thrived through multiple deployments, managing the all-too-familiar role of temporarily single parent to her 8-year-old daughter with aplomb. Perhaps it’s her fondness for marching band music, left over from her days as a high-school drum major, which keeps her in such high spirits. She’s a mentor among her community for spouses undergoing the emotional rollercoaster of deployment, as well as her volunteer work and activism around kids with cancer, kicked off by losing her 5-year-old nephew to brain cancer.

“I do a lot of mentoring on base, and I’d like to use my influence, whatever that may be, to continue that,” says Erin. “My goal would be to encourage spouses to get out of the house and get involved with your local community.”

Navy branch winner Loree T. isn’t afraid to ask for things—she’s developed a nonprofit organization that has collected and shipped over 9,000 pounds of supplies for troops overseas. Her city of Houston isn’t the military center that some others are, so she says that she’d love to bring attention to the struggles of military families in cities without great Tricare resources. She’s known among her peers as determined and tough, attending school full-time while raising her kids and supporting her husband.

“The opportunity to give back, that has been the most joyful for me,” says Loree. “Be prepared for anything, with a support group of friends and family around you.”

Lori B. responded to a need for resources for military spouses and parents at Elmendorf Air Force Base in Alaska. Her programs grew into nationally-used online information clearing houses. You can find her singing in church or at any other gathering on the base. She’s a volunteer abstinence educator for Alaska youth. And her own military service, ten years in Air Force logistics, makes her a great resource for other spouses.

“Sometimes it’s a lonely place,” she says. “It’s a challenge to break down the walls of timidness and judgment. What can we carry to another spouse to help her?”

NICKI B., ARMY WINNER

Nicki B. is an Army wife in Maryland with two kids under the age of three. She stood out because of her unrelenting positivity after making the ultimate sacrifice—Nicki’s husband Brian was killed in action in Afghanistan. A week later, she found out she was expecting their youngest. She organized a benefit run in her late husband’s name. It raised money for Flat Daddies, Fisher House and the American Widow Project.

“I hope to meet more people and tell my story,” Nicki says, “and tell my husband’s story for people who may need to talk, to have a shoulder to lean on, to have some advice.”

Ramona H. has been living this life for 30 years. She saw a need for support for Coastie families in Baltimore, and so she made it happen. She’s been a force in creating that community, which has been instrumental in providing childcare to military families. Mona helps administer a spouse and dependent scholarship, all while working full-time, caring for her mother and mother-in-law, and being a youth minister at her church.

“There were so many times that a younger family would just happen in conversation to say that they needed something or they didn’t know how to do something,” she tells us. “Fortunately God just put the resources in front of me and I was able to match them up with what they needed.”