During retired Capt. Francis Molinari’s 28-year career in naval intelligence, he and his family moved 11 times. His wife, Lisa, a licensed attorney, faced licensing barriers that impacted her career. She pivoted and focused on something she could do from anywhere: writing. In 2020, she published her memoir, The Meat and Potatoes of Life: My True Lit Com (Elva Resa Digital), and has written as a columnist for numerous other publications, including Stars and Stripes. But the couple worried most about how the moves impacted their three children.

“Each of our children attended multiple high schools, and our son attended three different ones. The moves were difficult for them,” Lisa said.

Francis’ last tour of duty took the family in 2013 to the U.S. Naval War College in Rhode Island, where a chance email to the admissions director of St. George’s School, a local private boarding school, would open opportunities not only for their children but also for Francis and Lisa.

“Francis thought I was wasting my time, but I did it,” Lisa said of sending the email.

The next morning, she got a message from the admissions director: The school had recently received money for a scholarship specifically for children of servicemembers and first responders.

“It fell in our lap,” Lisa said.

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Their daughters, Anna and Lily, would attend St. George’s School. Though their son, Hayden, was ineligible because he was a senior, he found his fit at another local boarding school, Portsmouth Abbey School.

Fast-forward a few years, and the Molinari children were thriving. Hayden was graduating from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Anna was studying fashion design at Syracuse University — with education assistance from MOAA Charities — and Lily was in her senior year of high school at St. George’s School.

Francis and Lisa got a call that Eric Peterson, then the head of school at St. George’s, wanted to see them.

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Peterson and his wife, Krista, proposed an idea to start a nonprofit that provides scholarships, financial aid, and, most importantly, an uninterrupted education for eligible children from military families to attend boarding schools.

“We decided we had to give back,” Lisa said. “We dove in headfirst.”

In early 2019, the Molinaris, along with the Petersons, founded Orion Military Scholars. The nonprofit sent its first group of students to its 12 member boarding schools in 2021.

The couple said their goal is to continue to grow Orion — more students, more partner schools, and more funding — so other military children find stability and success, as their children have.

Today, Hayden is a software engineer, Lily is a nurse, and Anna is a sustainable fashion designer who was the runner-up contestant on Season 22 of Project Runway.

“Their successes were enabled by this boarding school experience that was not available before because we just couldn’t afford it,” Francis said. “For the scholars in the program who have graduated, their parents are echoing what Lisa and I had said: ‘This is a life-changing experience.’”