Kelsey Mills, along with her husband, SSG Travis Mills, established the Travis Mills Foundation while sitting around their kitchen table, creating care packages for servicemembers. Additionally, the idea for the Foundation came from Kelsey being able to go on outings with Travis where he participated in adaptive sports while recovering from his injuries at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. While the couple were fortunate that Kelsey could share in these experiences, it wasn’t the same for all veterans.
She serves as secretary of the board of directors and can be found helping veterans and their families at the ropes course at the Travis Mills Foundation Veterans Retreat. In 2021 she commissioned an interactive piece of artwork by Chris and Greta Cart of Hallowell, Maine. The piece, which features a pair of prosthetic wings, is a permanent installment at the ropes course that visitors can pose with. It embodies the ideal that as a phoenix rises, so can man or woman after devastation and loss.
“It symbolizes a new beginning for our recalibrated veterans. Though they may be battered, they are not broken,” she said.
Kelsey and Travis also run several other businesses and reside in Manchester, Maine, with their daughter, Chloe, and son, Dax.