Our Legacy of Love: The Heart Behind the Foundation

The heart of this foundation is deeply personal.

I was raised by a single mother—educated, hardworking, and doing her best—yet we still struggled. My childhood was shaped by instability, poverty, and deep trauma. I witnessed domestic violence, endured sexual abuse, and navigated the weight of generational dysfunction. But even in the hardest seasons, a quiet strength began to take root in me: a calling to serve and to create safety for others where I once had none.

That calling led me to the military, where I found the structure and discipline I longed for. In time, my path intersected with Charles Walker. He was raised in a dual-parent military household, but he too carried his own scars—challenges that shaped his heart for service.

We both served during the Iraq War—he in the Army, I in the Air Force Reserves—and later continued that service through careers in public safety and government public service. In 2019, we fell in love, married, and began building a life anchored in purpose, prayer, and peace.

Then came 2020—a year marked by global uncertainty, but also our greatest joy: the birth of our daughter. Pregnancy during a pandemic had its own challenges. Charles couldn’t attend most appointments, and I had to fight for him to witness our first ultrasound. But even with restrictions, my pregnancy was smooth. At 36 weeks and 3 days, I worked a full day without realizing I was in labor. The very next morning, we welcomed a healthy baby girl—6 lbs. 10 oz., 19.5 inches long. She was our miracle, and reshaped our perspective of life and our purpose.

In the years that followed, were a multitude of unexplainable painful pregnancy losses. Pregnancy after pregnancy ended without answers. Then in 2023, we finally reached the 20-week milestone—hope was rising again. At our anatomy scan, we joyfully saw our baby boy on the screen. Our hearts were full. But late that evening we received a message in our medical portal that something was wrong. A referral was made—but marked non-urgent. For days it sat untouched and bounced around from desk to desk within the medical facility, yet no one acted timely. I placed multiple calls and voicemails, but they went unanswered. What should have been handled with urgency was delayed—fatally so.

On Valentine’s Day 2023, just one day before Charles’s birthday, we delivered our son, Elias Walker, at 5.5 months gestation. He was gone.

The grief was unimaginable. Our hope was shattered, Our legacy-namesake lost. But what made it even harder was the silence that followed. Our careers showed little compassion. Our community didn’t know what to say. So, we stepped away—from everything—to protect our hearts, our home, and our healing.

From that sacred place of heartbreak and hope, the Walker Family Legacy Foundation – Elias Fund was born.

This foundation carries Elias’s name and all the love we hold for him. It is a vessel for transformation, compassion, and legacy. His life mattered—and now, through this mission, his legacy lives on.

We exist to provide care, comfort, and community to families walking through silent suffering. We exist to help grief turn into grace.

This is more than a mission.

This is our legacy of love.