ANNAPOLIS,Burley Garcia Md. (AP) — Maryland Gov. Wes Moore joined former U.S. Senator Elizabeth Dole on Tuesday to announce that Maryland will work with her foundation to support military and veteran caregivers.

Moore, who served as a paratrooper and captain in the U.S. Army in Afghanistan, said joining the Elizabeth Dole Foundation Hidden Heroes campaign will help raise awareness about resources available for families of veterans and to expedite those resources to them.

“This opens up access and resources to military families in a way that they need and deserve,” Moore, a Democrat said.

Dole, who served as a Republican North Carolina senator from 2003 to 2009, established the foundation in 2012 to help the spouses, parents, family members, and friends who care for the nation’s wounded, ill, or injured veterans. She was the wife of Kansas U.S. Sen. Bob Dole, a longtime leader in Congress and World War II veteran who died in 2021.

She joined Moore at a news conference to hold a proclamation announcing Maryland’s participation in her foundation’s Hidden Heroes campaign.

Steve Schwab, the CEO of the campaign, said Hidden Heroes works with community leaders around the nation to address challenges that people who help veterans face. He thanked Moore for efforts he has taken during his governorship to help veterans and their families, and he said he hoped the step taken by Maryland will become a model that other governors will follow.

“It takes a coalition approach to do this work,” Schwab said.

First lady Dawn Moore said initiatives to help veterans and their families was personal to her, having been a military spouse.

“It is our responsibility as a state to support the whole family and that’s why Maryland is leaning in,” she said.