Erica Thompson

Share your military spouse story:
I am a senior military spouse of 22 years. Our family lived in privatized military housing for approximately ten months. From the beginning, the home had serious issues. We submitted repeated service calls for a failing HVAC system and rotted, leaking windows but were told funding was unavailable. To manage extreme humidity, we ran five dehumidifiers, removing roughly six gallons of water per day, yet humidity remained near 70%. During this time, our dog developed seizures, lost vision and mobility, and one of our children began experiencing fainting episodes. Contractors opened walls and ceilings multiple times without proper containment, spreading contamination throughout the home. Following this, our family experienced worsening health symptoms, including rashes, headaches, gastrointestinal issues, and cognitive regression in one child. Despite discovering additional mold, remediation continued without appropriate safety protocols. Most of our belongings were contaminated and lost, and our dog’s condition deteriorated to the point euthanasia was required. Our children are now being treated for toxic environmental exposure, with diagnoses including brain inflammation, POTS, bilateral pediatric cataracts, and other long-term conditions that permanently disqualify all five children from future military service. Following this experience, I began working with families across the nation that are walking through similar scenarios. I have collaborated with congressional offices on legislative reforms addressing mold in military housing, resulting in amendments in the NDAA and a stand alone bipartisan, bicameral bill. I also launched a national military housing survey to fill data gaps identified by Congress, the Department of War, and GAO, examining impacts to readiness, family health, finances, and dispute resolution outcomes. I continue to work towards solutions with senior leaders and Congress to ensure the safety of our military families.

Describe any leadership positions or provide an overview of your leadership contributions within the military community.
I serve as a Military Families Liaison with the Change the Air Foundation, providing national leadership on military housing and environmental health issues. I led a joint spouse initiative coordinating families across service branches, ranks, and regions to elevate housing failures to senior leadership, including participation in a roundtable with senior Pentagon officials. I designed and executed a national Safe Military Housing Survey to address data gaps identified by Congress, the Department of Defense, and GAO, producing actionable insights on readiness, family health, financial impact, and dispute resolution. I engaged with more than 70 congressional offices to work on amendments included in the FY26 NDAA and assisted in writing a standalone bipartisan, bicameral federal bill on military housing reform. I also advise senior Pentagon officials on housing policy, medical displacement, and family support needs.

What programs or projects are you currently involved in that support the needs of military families?
I am currently focused on elevating the experiences of military families impacted by unsafe housing conditions by ensuring their stories are documented, verified, and shared with senior leaders and policymakers. I work directly with families across service branches and installations to amplify their voices and advocate for timely intervention and support. In parallel, I am building a coalition of military-serving organizations and partners to better support families who are displaced due to housing-related health and safety issues. This effort centers on coordinating resources, improving access to assistance, and creating a unified national approach to elevate family experiences and systemic challenges to decision-makers. Through this work, I help ensure affected families receive both immediate support and long-term visibility needed to drive meaningful reform.

What moments best reflect your impact on building inclusive community among military spouses?
My impact is best reflected in ensuring military spouses and families, regardless of rank, branch, location, or status, know their experiences matter and are worthy of being heard. I have intentionally created inclusive spaces where families feel safe sharing their stories, often for the first time, with the assurance they will be treated with respect, protected from retaliation, and represented with integrity. By elevating family voices collectively rather than individually, I have helped spouses recognize that their experiences are not isolated or insignificant, but part of a broader pattern that deserves attention and action. Through anonymized storytelling and data-driven advocacy, families have been able to contribute to meaningful change while maintaining privacy and dignity. This approach has fostered trust, unity, and a shared sense of purpose among military spouses nationwide.

Identify your main advocacy effort and describe your personal connection to the cause.
My primary advocacy effort focuses on addressing unsafe conditions in privatized military housing, particularly the health impacts of mold and environmental hazards on military families. My personal connection to this work stems from my family’s own experience living in military housing, where systemic maintenance failures and improper remediation led to toxic environmental exposure. As a result, all five of our children developed serious, long-term medical conditions, and we lost our family dog. These experiences transformed our family’s life and permanently altered our children’s futures. What began as an effort to protect my own family evolved into a commitment to ensure other military families are not dismissed, silenced, or left without support when their health and safety are at risk. Today, my advocacy centers on elevating family voices and advancing policy reforms that prioritize health, readiness, and dignity for military families.

Summarize your advocacy outreach strategies, including any events, media involvement, or other communication efforts.
My advocacy outreach strategy focuses on elevating military family voices through coordinated media engagement, public storytelling, and relationship-building across the military community. I have participated in press interviews, podcasts, radio programs, and published articles. I also leverage social media to amplify verified family stories, share policy updates, and build awareness across service branches and regions. A key component of this effort has been advocating alongside our five children on Capitol Hill, highlighting how housing conditions affect military children’s health, development, and future service eligibility. Their presence has helped humanize policy discussions and bring visibility to impacts on children. In parallel, I build relationships with military-serving organizations, and nonprofits, coordinating messaging and leveraging shared platforms to expand reach, strengthen credibility, and ensure responsible storytelling that drives meaningful action.

What do you hope to accomplish with the AFI Military Spouse of the Year^® title?
If selected as AFI Military Spouse of the Year, I hope to use the platform to elevate the voices of military families, particularly those who feel unheard or marginalized, and to advance meaningful, lasting improvements to quality of life. I would use the visibility of the title to highlight how housing, environmental health, and family well-being directly impact readiness, retention, and the future of the force. I also hope to model inclusive, service-minded leadership by emphasizing that every spouse’s experience matters, regardless of rank, branch, or location. By responsibly sharing family stories I aim to help drive awareness, accountability, and practical solutions while encouraging other spouses to recognize the value of their voices and contributions to the military community. Ultimately, I would view the title not as recognition, but as a responsibility, to serve, to advocate, and to help ensure military families are protected, supported, and valued.