MILITARY HEARTS MATTER

Military Hearts Matter began when a military spouse, Holly Vega, realized there was an entire unknown and unsupported community of military personnel and their families that were dealing with heart-related issues. This community was first brought to Holly Vega’s attention in 2013 when Dr. Vivianne Wersel, an audiologist, shared how her husband, LtCol Richard “Rich” Wersel, Jr. USMC, died in 2005 from a heart attack while on active duty, only a week after returning home from serving in Iraq. Holly then shared Dr. Wersel’s story at a military spouse social event and was surprised as spouses began sharing their own military heart stories. It was then that Holly realized heart health issues were more widespread among the military and their families than she realized.

With this realization, Holly began the Military Hearts Matter movement. First in 2013 as a series of social educational events aboard the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, which continued at Marine Corps Base Quantico, and then in 2017 as an online Facebook community aimed to raise awareness and connect the military spouse heart community. She went one step further in 2017 by beginning an initiative with the Tampa Bay American Heart Association to bring awareness to the issue of military heart health.

In 2019, Holly Vega and Kaprece James officially co-founded Military Hearts Matter as a non-profit. In addition to its advocacy and awareness campaigns, Military Hearts Matter now supports various programs to include scholarships, room makeovers for military heart children (Heart of SuperNova Program), and sends heart blessings to those military families in need (Blessings from the Heart Program); all of which are named after military heart stories. Together with its board, volunteers, and ambassadors of military spouses and veterans, the organization is paving the way to fully supporting our military heart community.