AUGUSTA, Maine — As a mom of four, nothing can get in the way of Andrea Johnson playing with her kids. A permanent shoulder injury she received during her 13 years in the Air Force is no exception to that rule. With the way she was swinging her daughter around, you wouldn't even be able to tell, but if you get a little closer, you can hear her wince.
"I pick up a laundry basket full of my kids' clothes and my arm gives out and I almost drop it on my daughter who's crawling around." The way she says it, makes it clear she's frustrated.
Johnson stays strong, but her injury is debilitating and managing it is a struggle she faces every day. On top of this, an added struggle is revealed when she explains how she got the injury. It's not from combat or training, but rather from an assault she endured.
In 2007, when she was deployed in Iraq, Johnson says she was carrying 100 pounds of Kevlar gear over her left shoulder when a male tech sergeant, who was also her superior, assaulted her. "He yanks the Kevlar gear over my shoulder and whipped me around because he didn't like the fact I walked away from him," Johnson said.
Unfortunately, incidents like the ones Johnson described are far too common in the military. The statistics are staggering. In Maine, more than 40 percent of female veterans report experiencing military sexual harassment or military sexual trauma, according the Journal of Military, Veteran, and Family Health. Nationally, it is about 1 in 3.
Johnson can see traces of the statistics in her own experiences. "In my first year of the military, there were 15 female airmen in my unit. Eight of them were either physically assaulted or sexually assaulted that year," she said.
The shoulder injury wasn't the only assault Johnson endured while serving, but it was the most significant one, and also left her with an emotional wound. "I was so emotionally drained and emotionally charged by dealing with my traumas."
Even years after leaving the service, Johnson continued to suffer. She had never truly processed what had happened and was struggling to cope with the mental toll it had taken on her. "You don't move on, you don't go through it, you experience it and it becomes a part of you."
Last October, during one of her lowest points, Johnson became homeless. She says, at that time, she had lost all hope for a better life. That is, until she was welcomed into the Sisters in Arms Center in Augusta, where Johnson says they gave her back nearly everything she had lost. "These women helped me get back to my husband and get back to my children." At the residential center, Johnson was able to find women who had gone through the same struggles, connect with them and work towards healing.
"It helped me push through my grief and my anxiety and my depression and my anger in regards to what had happened to me," Johnson said.
The residential center has been open since 2022, providing housing and help to struggling female veterans, many of whom have experienced physical or sexual trauma. "This is just a place for them to feel safe and connect with their sisters and then get back on their feet," Executive Director at the Sisters in Arms Center Rebecca Cornell du Houx said.
Relatively new, the center is still finding its footing, and several challenges have popped up along the way.
"Our biggest barrier right now is a staffing issue," Cornell du Houx said. The center relies mostly on volunteers, but because of that, they don't have anyone working there full time, which du Houx says is not sustainable. She says they experience a lot of delays when taking women in because they don't have someone available to watch over and support them. "If we had a full time position we could increase the amount of women veterans we are able to take."
For those reasons, Cornell du Houx says the SIAC made efforts to gain funding for two full time positions. They received a sponsor from Democratic Representative Morgan Reilly who helped introduce LD 2263, a bill that would fund staffing for the SIAC. Those at the Sisters in Arms Center thought they were in the clear when the bill passed through the Maine House and Senate with flying colors, but then it hit a roadblock when it got to the Legislature's Appropriations and Financial Affairs Committee.
"I didn't expect it to be such a tremendous hurdle," Cornell du Houx said.
In appropriations, they made adjustments, only approving funding for one full-time position. The bill was then sent back to the Legislature to be voted on again, but did not make it through the House in time before the legislative session ended. A spokesperson for the Legislature's House Democratic Office said the House did not put the bill up for a vote because the Governor had indicated she would not accept any additional bills on veto day.
However, representatives for Gov. Mills say it was a legal decision made by the House Republican leader that stopped the bill. The Senate approved the bill on May 10, known as Veto Day and also the last day of the legislative session. The bill was then sent to the House, but because of timing, was not voted on.
"The House Republican leader had informed the governor’s office that if the House was going to take up the bills passed by the Senate [including LD 2263], he would object to its doing so, which would raise serious legal questions about the Legislature’s ability to enact bills on that day."
Either way, Cornell du Houx believes if the bill had been seen from the right level of importance, passing it wouldn't have been so delayed in the first place. "If it didn't get into the budget and it didn't go through until the end, then it ultimately wasn't something that was a priority for them."
The same feeling is felt by women like Johnson, who know what it's like to rely on the SIAC's care.
"We're always overlooked, a lot of people don't realize that. It makes me so angry because I served my country. I willingly signed my life away and the one trauma that stood out from my entire time being deployed was my assault."
Rep. Reilly says he looks forward to working with colleagues, advocates, and Gov. Mills to secure this funding in the next legislative session, of 2025. Until then, the Sisters In Arms Center will have to make do, something Cornell du Houx says will be hard, but not impossible. "We don't really have a choice. There's a need there and we have an obligation to fill it."
Cornell du Houx is even leaving her current job to take up a full-time position at the center. It's a risk she's willing to take, and with women like Johnson around her, she's reminded everyday why it's so important.
"I'm stronger by these women, I'm stronger by the organization, and I'm stronger because I had a safe place to go to when I was at my lowest," Johnson said.