In Maine, we are quick to help a neighbor and slow to ask for help ourselves. As a caregiver, I have learned that asking is not weakness — it is how families survive.

My husband, Jesse, served eight years in the U.S. Army, with deployments to Afghanistan, Ukraine and Djibouti. He was medically retired in 2018 after a neck injury in training, and lives with chronic pain, traumatic brain injuries, PTSD and tinnitus.

This month, I joined nearly 70 military and veteran caregivers in Washington, D.C., as part of the Elizabeth Dole Foundation’s Caregiver Fellows program. Representing Maine in the 2026 class is one of the proudest honors of my life, and I shared our family’s story with Sen. Susan Collins.

A 2024 RAND study counts 14.3 million caregivers nationwide. While we were on Capitol Hill, the House passed the Sharri Briley and Eric Edmundson Veterans Benefits Expansion Act, raising benefits for more than 500,000 catastrophically injured veterans and survivors. Two bills still need support: the CHAMPVA Children’s Care Protection Act, which keeps veterans’ children covered to age 26, and the Veteran Caregiver Re-education, Re-employment and Retirement Act, which recognizes that caregivers give up steady employment — along with certifications, retirement savings and years of earnings — because their veteran’s care comes first.

No Maine family should carry this alone. I am asking our leaders to build the support caregivers are too often too proud to request.

Shannon Shimer
Belfast