First H.E.L.P., Inc.

It is the mission of First H.E.L.P. to reduce mental health stigma through education, advocate for benefits for those suffering from post-traumatic stress, acknowledge the service and sacrifice of first responders we lost to suicide, support families after a suicide and to bring awareness to suicide and mental health issues.

The objective of First H.E.L.P. is to save lives and honor the service of those we can't save. Death by suicide continues to be the leading cause of death for first responders in the United States. Our goal is to help end the stigma associated with mental health and psychological injuries so first responders will seek the necessary help they to heal and recover. First H.E.L.P is also working to end the stigma so a first responder will seek help without fear of reprisal or rejection from their departments and peers. Seeking help from a mental health professional is not a sign of weakness but should be viewed the same as someone seeking help for a physical injury such as broken arm or a gunshot wound. First responders should not be seen as impermeable to the trauma they can regularly encounter on the job. First responders are people with an incredibly challenging job, the trauma they encounter is cumulative. Too many first responders get depressed and rather than seek help, they turn to self-destructive behavior which can lead to depression and sometimes, suicide.

First H.E.L.P. conspicuously honors and remembers first responders who died by suicide. We honor how they lived, not how they died. Too often our condolences are the only acknowledgement honoring the service of that fallen responder.

We provide all expense paid retreats, college scholarships, free training and more for at risk first responders and their families. We send customized care packages called "Honor Boxes" to each family upon hearing of a responder’s death by suicide. It is our belief that their service was honorable and should be recognized. The stigma of mental health injuries is so powerful that many departments do not bestow any burial honors for their responders who die by suicide. This rejection compounds the misery and hopelessness of the survivors and further perpetrating the stigma. Most responders we have lost to suicide have surviving children and they continue to suffer, and many lose hope due to their parents' means of death and questioning the causes. When these families reach out to the existing national resources for first responder survivors for help, they are either met with silence or flatly turned away because their responder died by suicide.

2020 PROGRESS

FAMILY SUPPORT
To support families and departments who lost an officer to suicide this year, Blue H.E.L.P. shipped more than 200 Honor Boxes with personalized blankets. And while social distancing meant we couldn’t always meet in person, our Blue H.E.L.P. families met online to discuss challenges and offer each other support. Over the holidays, we hosted a Zoom Christmas dinner, with meals provided free to our families; and we surprised them with a Christmas ornament to honor their loved ones. Many thanks go to the Motorola Solutions Foundation, which awarded Blue H.E.L.P. $50,000—for the second year in a row—to host family retreats in 2021 for those who lost an officer to suicide.

DEPARTMENT SUPPORT
Blue H.E.L.P. launched the Blue H.E.L.P. app to make it easier to submit suicides to us; and launched the #IWILLLISTEN campaign, which calls upon law enforcement to be open about issues of mental health. Blue H.E.L.P. also partnered with Motorola and the Gary Sinise Foundation to ship COVID-shutdown care packages of coffee, personal protective equipment, and mental health resources and materials to police departments and corrections facilities in March and April; packages were sent to 692 departments in the U.S. and the two departments in Canada that requested them.

EVENTS AND OUTREACH
When Police Week 2020 was cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, we at Blue H.E.L.P. quickly pivoted to offer virtual events, including a comedy show with Vinnie Montez and a live concert with David Bray, USA. Blue H.E.L.P.’s Karen Solomon and family members travelled to Los Angeles to film an episode of the Dr. Phil show focused on law enforcement suicide; Blue H.E.L.P.’s Steve Hough made a guest appearance on Oliver North’s Real American Heroes.

ADVOCACY
President Trump signed an executive order to establish the President’s Commission on Law Enforcement and the Administration of Justice—the first commission on law enforcement in a half century. At the commission’s hearing on officer safety and wellness, Blue H.E.L.P. advocated for suicide awareness and support for those we serve. In 2019, we had September 26 officially registered as law enforcement suicide awareness day and it is now an annual event. Many governors issued proclamations to make it an official day in their state. In addition, in 2020 Blue H.E.L.P. endorsed legislation to: encourage mental health support and protect the privacy of law enforcement and first responders; ensure confidentiality of peer support counseling programs for law enforcement officers; authorize safety officer death benefits to officers suffering from PTSD and suicide; and enforce the law enforcement suicide date collection bill, which was signed into law in June. Blue H.E.L.P. also participated in a two-year National Officer Safety Initiative, the National Consortium on Preventing Law Enforcement Suicide, funded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance.