In recent years, three times as many officers in the U.S. have perished from suicide than from criminal assault.
Locally, the tragic numbers reflect their stories:
From May 2016 to December 2017, 7 officers in and around Fairfield, CT, took their lives.
About twenty officers took their own lives in Fairfield County, CT, and Westchester County, NY, in a five-year span. That’s four per year; these rates are alarming, and the numbers are based on the best estimates of local law enforcement officials. They correspond to the striking levels of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) seen among cops and their struggles to cope with the unimaginable horrors associated with their assignments.
Each number tells a tragic story, but Life Line Chaplaincy is striving to rewrite that story among first responders.
Please watch this brief video featuring local police officers and former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani as they share the challenges first responders face and the value of Life Line Chaplaincy in helping first responders deal with these crises.
Life Line Chaplaincy works with each branch of first responders, but the crisis among police officers seems most pressing right now. Life Line Chaplaincy is participating in efforts locally and nationally that are specifically designed to help reduce those numbers. This is unfolding in three ways:
2. Working with local police leadership and mental health professionals to produce a series of innovative resources that will address suicide and PTSD among first responders locally first, then nationally;
3. The launch of Building Community, a national initiative in partnership with Charter Communications/Spectrum, designed to strengthen relationships between police officers and local neighborhoods through home repair projects in specific communities;
But we can’t do this without you. Life Line Chaplaincy is funded primarily through the generous donations of individuals who are concerned for the well being of first responders. Would you consider supporting Life Line Chaplaincy today so we can be there for first responders tomorrow? Our budget for 2017 is $150,000. You can help us by:
- Making a generous donation today, and/or
- Spreading the word about Life Line Chaplaincy by forwarding this note to friends who care about the well being of first responders;
Please consider this:
Each $50 gift provides the time and resources to take a first responder out to eat and just be there for him/her to share the burden.
Each $500 gift covers the time and expenses for one day of meeting with and serving first responders.
$2500 supplies resources for one week of connecting with first responders, developing strategic resources, and planning events that will help them face the unimaginable challenges they encounter each day.
You can help rewrite the story for first responders. To make a tax-deductible donation to Life Line Chaplaincy online, go to our secure donation site. Or, to make a tax-deductible donation by mail, send it to:
Life Line Chaplaincy, Inc
P.O. Box 3013
Stamford, CT 06905
Thank you for considering a gift that will enable Life Line Chaplaincy to help change the story.
May God bless you,
Rev. John Revell
Lead Chaplain, Life Line Chaplaincy, Inc.
(203) 517-4762