A Second Mission

Bob McLaughlin, the executive director of Mt. Carmel Veterans Service Center, grew up intrigued by heroism from an early age.

"I loved John Wayne movies, good over evil and the historical area I grew up in," he recalls about his early life in Lexington, Massachusetts.

The second of four boys, McLaughlin was raised in a family with military roots: his father served in the Air Force and his mother was part of the U.S. Marine Corps Women's Auxiliary in the 1950s. That early fascination eventually became a 29-year career in the U.S. Army.

Before retiring as a colonel, McLaughlin accumulated a record that reads like a highlight reel of American military service over three decades: Fort Carson garrison commander, chief of staff for U.S. Forces-Afghanistan, battalion task force commander during Operation Iraqi Freedom. His awards include the Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Bronze Star and a long list of others.

But when asked what he is most proud of, it's none of the accolades or awards. It's service. That word has defined both chapters of his life.

A Friendship That Changed Everything

Many military careers end with a retirement speech, a flag ceremony and uncertainty about what comes next. McLaughlin's retirement was different, because of the late Jay Cimino, a businessman and pillar of the Colorado Springs community.

The two first connected in 2009, when McLaughlin had just taken the garrison command at Fort Carson. He was sent to Trinidad during a tense public controversy over the Piñon Canyon expansion proposal for the military.

"I was just amazed by the amount of people who showed up, but I listened, took notes and came back and said, 'we need to find a connection to Trinidad,'" he explains. "Someone mentioned I should connect with Jay Cimino, a Colorado Springs car dealer who grew up in Trinidad."

What started as a single conversation grew into a genuine friendship. Over the years, Cimino watched how McLaughlin worked in the military, according to his daughter, Gina Cimino.

"Bob exemplifies the true meaning of servant leadership, both in and out of uniform," she says. "Leading with empathy, purpose, and a commitment to serving others above himself."

Over the years, Jay Cimino continued to watch the resiliency programs, the wounded warrior support, the services for Gold Star families and the transition resources McLaughlin and his team built for the soldiers and their families.

"Jay used to ask me all the time, 'What are you going to do when you grow up?'" McLaughlin says, laughing. "I thought it was funny, kind of a running joke. I did tell him that I didn't want to sell cars!"

But selling cars was not what Cimino had in mind for McLaughlin. Just before Christmas of 2013, Cimino asked to meet for lunch.

"He told me he wanted to open a center to help veterans in Colorado Springs and asked if I was in," explains McLaughlin. "I asked him all kinds of practical questions about the position, and typical Jay, he pushed through all the 'what ifs' and got me to say 'yes.'"

From a Small Church to a Statewide Mission

The organization McLaughlin would help lead had roots that began not in Colorado Springs, but in a small church in Trinidad.

Cimino purchased Our Lady of Mt. Carmel in 2007, after years of disrepair had left it widely considered unsalvageable. Most people thought it should come down. Cimino thought otherwise. This was his childhood church, where his parents got married, and the heart of the community. He invested millions to restore the property and transform it into a nonprofit health and wellness center for a rural region with deep healthcare gaps. It became Mt. Carmel Wellness & Community Center.

That vision eventually expanded north. In Colorado Springs, a former television station building was acquired, renovated and reimagined. Mt. Carmel Veterans Service Center officially opened its doors in 2016, with McLaughlin at the helm as executive director.

"We started with a budget of $75,000," he says, shaking his head. "A decade later, we operate with an annual budget of roughly $5 million, and we've touched more than 47,000 lives."

That growth happened because McLaughlin understands that the real work of serving veterans is less about programs on paper and more about what happens when someone finally picks up the phone and makes a call on their behalf.

"The most rewarding thing for me is that I can pick up the phone and connect someone with help, quickly," he says.

A Hub, Not a Bureaucracy

Walk into Mt. Carmel today, and it's immediately apparent that this is not a typical nonprofit. It's a hub, a place where veterans, active-duty service members and their families find real help without being shuffled through layers of bureaucracy.

"Through Bob's leadership and guidance, Mt. Carmel Veterans Service Center has become the preeminent destination for resources and advocacy for Colorado's military and veteran community," Gina Cimino says.

Programs include employment services, transition coaching, counseling, suicide prevention, legal assistance, housing support and food access, along with small business development and wellness programs.

Under McLaughlin's watch, Mt. Carmel has built relationships with more than 600 active service partners across Colorado, creating a web of support that was sorely needed.

One program stands out: Next Chapter, a suicide prevention initiative developed in partnership with UCHealth that has reduced veteran suicide in El Paso and Teller counties in its first three years.

Other partner programs include Operation TBI Freedom, in conjunction with Craig Hospital, which supports veterans living with traumatic brain injuries. In 2023, the U.S. Small Business Administration selected Mt. Carmel to host Colorado's first Veteran Business Outreach Center. That recognizes that veterans need more than jobs; many of them want to build something.

"Veterans don't just need money," McLaughlin emphasizes. "They need purpose."

What Jay Left Behind

McLaughlin's own transition out of the military wasn't completely seamless. Parts of the retirement process were difficult. He doesn't dwell on it, but it left an impression that still shapes the way he leads.

He pays close attention to how people are treated in moments of vulnerability, especially during career changes or unexpected hardships. That empathy shows up in how Mt. Carmel operates: nobody falls through the cracks.

McLaughlin says Cimino made a huge impression on him from the start, one that he carries with him to this day.

"Jay had a way of cutting through the noise. He rarely wanted to talk about funding first. His advice was almost always the same: focus on the vision and the mission, and the money will come," remembers McLaughlin.

He promised Jay he'd stay five years to get things moving and then he'd decide what to do next. After more than a decade, Bob proclaims, "I'm still here, and it's an amazing calling."

A Decade, and a Second Mission That Continues

This year marks a decade of Mt. Carmel's work in Colorado Springs, a milestone that many organizations never make. McLaughlin talks about the future and reaching farther, about extending statewide and beyond with new partnerships to serve more families and connect more veterans to the help they've earned.

And he talks about gratitude. For his wife Cindy, who made every relocation and deployment make sense for their children. For the men and women who served beside him. For Jay Cimino, whose lunch invitation years ago upended his retirement plans and gave him a second mission worth showing up for.

Bob McLaughlin's uniform may have changed, but the mission didn't. He has spent a lifetime in service to others, and in Colorado, thousands of people are living better lives because of it.