HAMPTON ROADS, Va. — Following her recognition as the 2025 Heroes at Home Military Spouse of the Year, Eleanor Haack-Finney is continuing to expand the national reach of Defenders of Resilience Military Ministry, a nonprofit dedicated to providing free, confidential faith-based mental health support for active-duty service members, veterans, military spouses, and their families.
As Founder and Executive Director of Defenders of Resilience, Haack-Finney has spent the past several years building a ministry that meets military families where they are—through pastoral counseling, crisis intervention, support groups, church partnerships, leadership training, and community outreach. What began as a vision born from personal hardship has grown into a nationwide ministry serving military families navigating trauma, transition, deployment, grief, marriage challenges, and mental health concerns.
A Navy spouse, ordained pastor, Board Certified Pastoral Counselor, speaker, author, and mother of four, Haack-Finney understands firsthand the unique challenges military life can bring. Her own experiences with chronic illness, caregiving, military life, trauma, and personal loss have shaped a ministry committed to ensuring no military family has to face life’s battles alone.
“Receiving the Military Spouse of the Year award was an incredible honor, but it has never been about recognition,” Haack-Finney said. “It’s about opening more doors to serve. Every conversation, every counseling session, every life impacted reminds us why this mission matters.”
Today, Defenders of Resilience continues expanding both virtually and in person from its Hampton Roads counseling office while equipping churches nationwide through its Military Ministry Partnership Program. Through the Defenders Church Network, churches receive military culture education, faith-based mental health training, ministry resources, ongoing coaching, and practical tools to confidently serve active-duty service members, veterans, and military families within their own communities. The ministry also provides scholarships for military mental health training, educational workshops, crisis response resources, and ongoing support designed to bridge the gap between faith communities and the military community.
The organization has become known for responding during some of life’s most difficult moments, offering confidential pastoral counseling, suicide intervention support, marriage and family care, crisis intervention, and practical resources rooted in compassion, hope, and faith. Every service is provided free of charge, ensuring that cost is never a barrier to receiving care.
The ministry’s vision is grounded in the verse that has guided Haack-Finney’s life for years:
“Perhaps this is the moment for which you have been created.” — Esther 4:14
That same message inspired her upcoming book, Perhaps This Is It: Seeds of Purpose for Missionaries in the Everyday.
More than a memoir, the book challenges readers to rethink what it means to live with purpose. Rather than viewing calling as something reserved for pastors, missionaries, or public leaders, Haack-Finney invites readers to discover that God often works through ordinary people living faithfully in ordinary places. Parenting, military life, caregiving, serving a local church, supporting a neighbor, or simply showing up where God has planted you become sacred opportunities to live on mission.
Drawing from Scripture, personal experience, and years of counseling and ministry, Perhaps This Is It encourages readers to recognize that purpose is not found by chasing a bigger platform—it is discovered by faithfully serving where God has already placed them. The book serves as both an invitation to deeper faith and a call for believers to recognize that they are missionaries in their everyday lives.
Readers interested in joining the launch community and receiving exclusive updates can join the official book waitlist at:
Book Waitlist: https://ephouse.kartra.com/page/waitlist
Churches interested in bringing military ministry to their congregation or learning more about the Military Ministry Partnership Program can visit:
Defenders Church Network: https://www.defendersofresilience.com/church-network-home
As awareness surrounding military mental health continues to grow nationwide, Haack-Finney believes churches and local communities have an unprecedented opportunity to become places of healing.
“Military families don’t just need another program,” she said. “They need people willing to listen, care, and walk alongside them. Healing happens through relationships. That’s what Defenders of Resilience exists to provide.”
About Eleanor Haack-Finney
Eleanor Haack-Finney is the Founder and Executive Director of Defenders of Resilience Military Ministry, an ordained pastor, Board Certified Pastoral Counselor, speaker, author, and recipient of the 2025 Heroes at Home Military Spouse of the Year award. She is dedicated to equipping churches, counseling military families, training ministry leaders, and advancing faith-based mental health support for the military community nationwide.
About Defenders of Resilience Military Ministry
Defenders of Resilience Military Ministry is a national 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization providing free, confidential faith-based mental health support for active-duty service members, veterans, military spouses, and their families. Through pastoral counseling, crisis intervention, education, church partnerships, community outreach, and leadership development, the ministry exists to break the stigma surrounding mental health while ensuring no military family walks through life’s battles alone.
Media Contact
Defenders of Resilience Military Ministry
Eleanor Haack-Finney
Founder & Executive Director
📧 info@defendersofresilience.com
🌐 https://www.defendersofresilience.com
⛪ Defenders Church Network
https://www.defendersofresilience.com/church-network-home
📖 Perhaps This Is It Book Waitlist
https://ephouse.kartra.com/page/waitlist
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