June 9, 2025 • 15 mins
What happens when a community decides to take care of its own? The HOPE Collaborative—Helping Others Prosper Every Day—represents a powerful answer to that question. This grassroots initiative brings together Walker's businesses, schools, churches, and police department to create an interconnected web of support for families and individuals in need.
Born from conversations between Zinser Elementary Principal Brooke Johnston and Pastor Jim Richter of The Vine church, the collaborative addresses a fundamental truth: we all have assets to share and needs to be met. With Walker Police Officer Mitch Harkama joining the leadership team, this citywide initiative fills a crucial gap in local support systems by connecting people directly to resources they might otherwise never discover.
The collaborative tackles pressing issues like food insecurity, housing instability, mental health challenges, and financial burdens—problems that have intensified since COVID-19 disrupted community connections. Current projects include enhancing family programming at the Three Mile Project with parent education on topics like social media safety and budgeting, maintaining a free pantry at Walker Ice and Fitness, and providing emergency assistance through the police department's Community Care Card program. One touching example shows how a simple 30-minute interaction changed someone's entire month, transforming a recipient into a contributor to the same system that helped her.
Ready to join this movement of compassion? Businesses can donate gift cards, community members can share their insights on needed resources, and families can connect with the collaborative through the Walker City webpage, Zinser Elementary, or the police department. Together, we're rebuilding the connections that make Walker not just a place to live, but a true community that cares for every resident.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
Welcome to Made in Walker, a podcast that connects
you to the people, the storiesand the ideas shaping our
community, from local innovatorsto everyday changemakers.
We're diving deep into whatmakes Walker a great place to
live, work and grow.
Here's your host, nicoleDiDonato.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
What happens when local businesses, churches,
schools, even the policedepartment, come together not
just to talk but to actually act.
In this episode, we'reintroducing the HOPE
Collaborative, built on thesimple idea of helping others
prosper every day, and I'm herewith two of the main leaders of
this collaborative Walker PoliceOfficer Mitch Harkama, and we
(00:48):
have Brooke Johnston fromZinsser, the principal at
Zinsser Elementary School.
Thank you both so much forjoining us today.
Thanks, for having us.
And it's an important episode.
We're talking about this newcollaborative that has really
come together since thebeginning of the year and it's
got a lot of motion coming on.
What really started all of this?
Speaker 4 (01:08):
I'll speak to that because at the beginning of the
school year I had just startedback at Zinsser as the principal
.
This is my first year there,after having my kids attend many
years ago, and the the missionfor Zinsser Elementary has
always been kids who care andwe're families who care.
And then when I was lookingaround I realized we need to do
(01:32):
more to care for our community.
How can we get connected withother people in places that need
our help?
But then also how can weconnect with businesses and
churches and nonprofits that canhelp the needs of our students?
So I began to have a discussionwith the church across the
(01:53):
street.
Pastor Jim Richter is thepastor at the Vine and kind of
shared my thoughts and he hadthe same thoughts.
How can we build this networkof people that can come together
and support each other?
And we realized, like we allhave assets but we all have
needs and if we can just sharethose things, we can really make
(02:14):
a difference in our communityand partner together.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
Yeah, absolutely.
There's not a lot of citywideinitiatives like there are at
the county level, so this isjust a way for all of us to come
together at a more local levelto connect with people, and what
do you think the purpose reallyshould be?
Speaker 3 (02:29):
So when we started meeting you know I was invited
to the first meeting by Brookeand Pastor Jim, who happens to
be a chaplain at Walker PoliceDepartment also and doing some
of the community engagement andcommunity outreach things for
the police department werealized pretty quickly that
there are some hubs of resourcesin the city, whether it be
(02:50):
through the police department,through the school, through
faith-based businesses andthings like that.
So we started just bringingsome people to the table and our
purpose is truly what theinitiative is called HOPE
Helping Others Prosper Every Day.
The businesses and the folksthat are involved so far.
They all do great work in thecommunity already as part of
(03:11):
their everyday jobs, but thencollectively as a collaborative.
Our goals are to then expandthat reach.
You know, for the policedepartment side of things we see
people in need every day andsometimes our road patrol
officers need a little bitbetter connection to provide
people the resource they mayneed.
And having a network of thesecontacts, some of them very
(03:32):
specific to a niche type need,is helpful, because when those
reports come forward to me thenI can send that right back and
say, hey, officer, tryconnecting this person to this
specific resource or thisspecific group or I can do that
myself as well.
So we've had some good momentumalready in some of the projects
that we've started and some ofthe ones that we're looking
(03:54):
forward to.
But really, yeah, theinitiative is to help families
prosper and help the city ofWalker and the Walker area in
general just really grow and beprosperous.
Speaker 2 (04:03):
Yeah, and what are some of the topics that you
think we've already explored,that families may be looking for
that extra assistance,mentorship in as well?
Speaker 4 (04:11):
When we talk to the different people that are
involved, like what are thegreatest needs, we see there's
some food insecurity, there'shousing insecurity, a lot of
mental health issues andfinancial burdens and really
just a lack of awareness ofwhere can I go to get help.
Some people are just completelydisconnected from networks so
(04:37):
really we just bring thoseconnections for them.
But our biggest push right nowis how can we support families
in providing the resources thatthey need to thrive?
Speaker 2 (04:51):
Yeah, and already trying to build off of some
things that are happening in thecommunity.
We have a three-mile projectthat offers a chance for middle
schoolers and high schoolers tocome in once a week.
So how will that be implementedinto the bigger scheme of
things?
Speaker 3 (05:05):
So one of the things we're going to try to add on to
there is they already have asuccessful family day program
there that happens monthly.
So we're going to try to bringin some resources, some speakers
, some different opportunitiesfor the parents to also attend
those days rather than justdropping their kids off to play
for a few hours.
Because a lot of times when wesee the folks that need the
(05:27):
connections, they are familiesand sometimes they struggle to
get those connections becausethey don't have child care.
So giving them an opportunity toknow that their kids are going
to be in a safe place,entertained in a positive way,
and then the parents can stickaround and either just network
We'll have some booths andcommunity resource tables
through Network 180 and somedifferent initiatives and things
(05:49):
like that that the parents cancheck in on at their own speed
and connect how they want to butthen we're also going to have
some speakers come in and talkon some topics like helping your
kids navigate social mediasafety, which is a big one, I
know, on the police departmentand we see a lot of that stuff.
Um, budgeting is huge, you know.
(06:10):
It seems like everything costsmore these days and you know
some people who maybe didn'tstruggle financially a few years
ago are now um.
So just different topics likethat, different community
resources that can come in andconnect with these families in a
different way, in a differentvenue, I think is going to be
very helpful.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
Yeah, excited to see all this coming together and
again happening pretty quickly.
Where can folks start to?
If families are out therelistening to this, maybe try to
get information?
We're kind of working as a citylevel to compile all of that.
We're trying to create a hubcity level to compile all of
that.
Speaker 4 (06:52):
We're trying to create the hub of information on
the Walker City webpage so wecan send parents there.
They can, of course, also talkto me at Dinser Elementary and I
can connect them with peoplethat we're with.
I'll call the police departmentand they'll be able.
We have a list of partners thatwe work with so we can send
them to the right person whenthey need it so, um, I think of
like that's a big initiativethat we're doing with the three
(07:13):
mile parent events, but somesmaller ones.
We have the food pantry that nowwe're telling our team, hey,
help us stock that at walker umthis summer so families can go.
Or a simple.
We have a courtyard in ourbuilding and in the summer it
looks like a jungle, so now wehave people that come and kind
of help care for that, becauseit really is a great learning
(07:34):
space.
I've had families at schoolthat can't you know if they need
support in different areas.
I can just connect them withthe right people that are really
helpful and just even to be alistening ear too.
Speaker 2 (07:49):
Yeah, it's been nice.
You've had a lot of peoplewhether it's businesses and
police, churches that wanted tohelp, and now they have an
opportunity and a place to gowhere their resources can be
utilized.
And if there's businesses outthere that are listening too,
what type of resources are youlooking for from them if they
want to donate, whether it'sfinancial or physical?
Speaker 3 (08:07):
I would say the easiest thing for them to get
involved in right now is so atthe police department.
For a little while we've hadthis community care card
initiative where, if you can getus like the prepaid visas and
bring those to the policedepartment, we keep those on
hand.
We utilize those all the timefor various things.
Whether you know, we comeacross a family who has some
(08:28):
food insecurity and we can givethem some Meijer gift cards to
help with that, or you know avictim of a crime that needs a
place to stay.
We recently had a family thathad some damage to their home
due to a fire and we were ableto put them up in a hotel for a
few nights while the insuranceand everything was getting ready
and they didn't have a place tostay until then.
So that's the easiest thing todo, I think, as a business, is
(08:52):
just throw some money at it andgrab some of those gift cards
and bring those back to us.
And I said we're not shy aboutgiving credit where credit is
due.
We have a lot of great businesspartners already at the police
department with some of thethings we've been doing, but
you'll see us out in thecommunity at some of our city
events throughout the summer.
(09:13):
Stop by the booth, talk to somefolks who are involved in the
Hope Collaborative already.
We'll have some informationgathering stuff out there like
what would you like to see?
Is there a community educationseminar we could host at, you
know, one of our partners,whether it's at a school, a
church, something like that.
And that's really what we'redriving for is we want to give
(09:34):
the citizens and the residentsthat need the help the voice to
tell us this is what we need,this is what we think would be
helpful to us, and then let usgo back to the drawing board and
figure out how do we bring itto them yeah, because it is all
for the citizens here, and youknow how do you feel like
personally.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
You know you having families as well, but also
working in the schools.
How does it, um, you know,knowing that there's that you're
able to help, or what's thatkind of feel like?
Speaker 4 (09:59):
well, I, I think that people are, they need
connections and they needcommunity.
And I think what happened withCOVID we lost those connections,
we lost those networks, we lostthe community and the
neighborhood feel for so longthat it really has hurt some of
our families, it's hurt some ofour students and our community
(10:22):
members, and I think it's timefor us to um really support each
other and look out for eachother.
And I think, um you know, I,for for me, at our school, I
didn't want it just to be whatcan we take from the community,
but what can we give back?
What can our students do?
Is there a resident like anursing home that we can go and
(10:51):
visit or is there a project wecan do to support the police?
Um, so we're teaching them at avery young age like, you need
to be connected and you need toreach out and support and um
care for others.
Yeah, because that's going tomake a big difference in their
lives when they're older and itit's exciting to see the impact
that even a young student canhave on the community.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
Yeah, and Mitch, you know you're out in the community
every day, interacting with somany different types of people
and family.
How does that, you know kind ofimpact you and your outlook and
everything it is?
Speaker 3 (11:19):
So you know, on the community outreach side of the
police department it's verydifferent than your day-to-day
going call-to-call.
There's a lot of little thingsthat kind of happen behind the
scenes, the connections that thepolice department and I are
able to provide.
You know, recently we hadsomeone who saw the pantry that
Brooke spoke of.
Again, for folks who don't knowabout that, there's a little
(11:42):
free pantry inside Walker Iceand Fitness and you can go there
anytime.
The Ice and Fitness Center isopen If you have something to
leave.
Fantastic, if you needsomething, take it, no questions
asked.
You can walk in and walk rightback out with what you need.
And we had someone who reachedout to the police department
because they saw a post on thatand she was like I don't know
(12:02):
how to get there.
I don't have a car, um, but Ithink I could benefit from some
of the things there.
Um, I was able to chat with heron the phone um box up some
things from the pantry and thenum utilize some of the resource
packets that we've alreadycreated as part of the hope
collaborative um through some ofthe the different initiatives
that schools are part of andchurches are part of and the
(12:23):
police department.
It was very rewarding to get acall back from her a few days
later, a very emotional callback from her about how that 30
minutes of my day impacted hermonth.
Basically, through some of thecommunity care cards that we
(12:46):
spoke of, she was able to go tothe grocery store and get some
things that weren't ramennoodles.
Through some of the resourcesshe was able to call and connect
with, that could give her somemore long-term support than what
just the little free pantrycould.
And then on top of that, shewas then willing to be like hey,
(13:09):
we also have some food thatmaybe aren't favorites in the
house that we could put back onthe pantry.
So I want to do that.
I want to get back out and thengive back also.
So it's just like Brooke saidit's about getting out there and
letting people know all thesedifferent places care.
There's so many hubs ofdifferent resources in the
community and having a networkof them it's just rewarding work
(13:33):
.
It's a different side of policework and it's something you know
.
I've been with Walker PD foralmost 11 years now and I found
out pretty early on I had moreof a passion for kind of the
behind the scenes type policework than the call to call daily
basis stuff.
So I love being involved inthings like this and you know we
(13:54):
have a very supportive chief inadministration at our police
department and then even fromcity leadership as well.
When we come to them and say,hey, this is something we want
to kind of dabble in, they giveus free reign to make those
connections and do what we needto do to make sure that people
are supported.
So it's a very nice thing to bea part of and we love to see
(14:14):
the benefits that it fosterswithin the community.
Speaker 2 (14:18):
Of course, and we are so grateful to have you in our
community and to have that drive, as well as everyone else who
is part of the HOPECollaborative.
Thank you so much for beinghere and, of course, we will get
more information as the HOPECollaborative comes out.
Look for it on the City ofWalker's Facebook pages or
social media.
The City of Walker PoliceDepartment's pages as well,
because we want everyone to getinvolved and also to benefit
(14:40):
from this project.
Thank you both so much.
Thank you and we appreciate youwatching.
Speaker 1 (14:43):
Thank you for joining us for this episode of the Made
in Walker podcast.
If you have comments orquestions about this podcast, or
if you have suggestions forfuture episodes, we'd love to
hear from you.
Please drop us an email atpodcast at walkercity.
Made in Walker is the officialpodcast of the City of Walker,
Michigan.
You can find Made in Walkerwherever you get your podcasts.
(15:08):
Thank you.
Welcome to Made in Walker, a podcast that connects
you to the people, the storiesand the ideas shaping our
community, from local innovatorsto everyday changemakers.
We're diving deep into whatmakes Walker a great place to
live, work and grow.
Here's your host, nicoleDiDonato.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
What happens when local businesses, churches,
schools, even the policedepartment, come together not
just to talk but to actually act.
In this episode, we'reintroducing the HOPE
Collaborative, built on thesimple idea of helping others
prosper every day, and I'm herewith two of the main leaders of
this collaborative Walker PoliceOfficer Mitch Harkama, and we
(00:48):
have Brooke Johnston fromZinsser, the principal at
Zinsser Elementary School.
Thank you both so much forjoining us today.
Thanks, for having us.
And it's an important episode.
We're talking about this newcollaborative that has really
come together since thebeginning of the year and it's
got a lot of motion coming on.
What really started all of this?
Speaker 4 (01:08):
I'll speak to that because at the beginning of the
school year I had just startedback at Zinsser as the principal
.
This is my first year there,after having my kids attend many
years ago, and the the missionfor Zinsser Elementary has
always been kids who care andwe're families who care.
And then when I was lookingaround I realized we need to do
(01:32):
more to care for our community.
How can we get connected withother people in places that need
our help?
But then also how can weconnect with businesses and
churches and nonprofits that canhelp the needs of our students?
So I began to have a discussionwith the church across the
(01:53):
street.
Pastor Jim Richter is thepastor at the Vine and kind of
shared my thoughts and he hadthe same thoughts.
How can we build this networkof people that can come together
and support each other?
And we realized, like we allhave assets but we all have
needs and if we can just sharethose things, we can really make
(02:14):
a difference in our communityand partner together.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
Yeah, absolutely.
There's not a lot of citywideinitiatives like there are at
the county level, so this isjust a way for all of us to come
together at a more local levelto connect with people, and what
do you think the purpose reallyshould be?
Speaker 3 (02:29):
So when we started meeting you know I was invited
to the first meeting by Brookeand Pastor Jim, who happens to
be a chaplain at Walker PoliceDepartment also and doing some
of the community engagement andcommunity outreach things for
the police department werealized pretty quickly that
there are some hubs of resourcesin the city, whether it be
(02:50):
through the police department,through the school, through
faith-based businesses andthings like that.
So we started just bringingsome people to the table and our
purpose is truly what theinitiative is called HOPE
Helping Others Prosper Every Day.
The businesses and the folksthat are involved so far.
They all do great work in thecommunity already as part of
(03:11):
their everyday jobs, but thencollectively as a collaborative.
Our goals are to then expandthat reach.
You know, for the policedepartment side of things we see
people in need every day andsometimes our road patrol
officers need a little bitbetter connection to provide
people the resource they mayneed.
And having a network of thesecontacts, some of them very
(03:32):
specific to a niche type need,is helpful, because when those
reports come forward to me thenI can send that right back and
say, hey, officer, tryconnecting this person to this
specific resource or thisspecific group or I can do that
myself as well.
So we've had some good momentumalready in some of the projects
that we've started and some ofthe ones that we're looking
(03:54):
forward to.
But really, yeah, theinitiative is to help families
prosper and help the city ofWalker and the Walker area in
general just really grow and beprosperous.
Speaker 2 (04:03):
Yeah, and what are some of the topics that you
think we've already explored,that families may be looking for
that extra assistance,mentorship in as well?
Speaker 4 (04:11):
When we talk to the different people that are
involved, like what are thegreatest needs, we see there's
some food insecurity, there'shousing insecurity, a lot of
mental health issues andfinancial burdens and really
just a lack of awareness ofwhere can I go to get help.
Some people are just completelydisconnected from networks so
(04:37):
really we just bring thoseconnections for them.
But our biggest push right nowis how can we support families
in providing the resources thatthey need to thrive?
Speaker 2 (04:51):
Yeah, and already trying to build off of some
things that are happening in thecommunity.
We have a three-mile projectthat offers a chance for middle
schoolers and high schoolers tocome in once a week.
So how will that be implementedinto the bigger scheme of
things?
Speaker 3 (05:05):
So one of the things we're going to try to add on to
there is they already have asuccessful family day program
there that happens monthly.
So we're going to try to bringin some resources, some speakers
, some different opportunitiesfor the parents to also attend
those days rather than justdropping their kids off to play
for a few hours.
Because a lot of times when wesee the folks that need the
(05:27):
connections, they are familiesand sometimes they struggle to
get those connections becausethey don't have child care.
So giving them an opportunity toknow that their kids are going
to be in a safe place,entertained in a positive way,
and then the parents can stickaround and either just network
We'll have some booths andcommunity resource tables
through Network 180 and somedifferent initiatives and things
(05:49):
like that that the parents cancheck in on at their own speed
and connect how they want to butthen we're also going to have
some speakers come in and talkon some topics like helping your
kids navigate social mediasafety, which is a big one, I
know, on the police departmentand we see a lot of that stuff.
Um, budgeting is huge, you know.
(06:10):
It seems like everything costsmore these days and you know
some people who maybe didn'tstruggle financially a few years
ago are now um.
So just different topics likethat, different community
resources that can come in andconnect with these families in a
different way, in a differentvenue, I think is going to be
very helpful.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
Yeah, excited to see all this coming together and
again happening pretty quickly.
Where can folks start to?
If families are out therelistening to this, maybe try to
get information?
We're kind of working as a citylevel to compile all of that.
We're trying to create a hubcity level to compile all of
that.
Speaker 4 (06:52):
We're trying to create the hub of information on
the Walker City webpage so wecan send parents there.
They can, of course, also talkto me at Dinser Elementary and I
can connect them with peoplethat we're with.
I'll call the police departmentand they'll be able.
We have a list of partners thatwe work with so we can send
them to the right person whenthey need it so, um, I think of
like that's a big initiativethat we're doing with the three
(07:13):
mile parent events, but somesmaller ones.
We have the food pantry that nowwe're telling our team, hey,
help us stock that at walker umthis summer so families can go.
Or a simple.
We have a courtyard in ourbuilding and in the summer it
looks like a jungle, so now wehave people that come and kind
of help care for that, becauseit really is a great learning
(07:34):
space.
I've had families at schoolthat can't you know if they need
support in different areas.
I can just connect them withthe right people that are really
helpful and just even to be alistening ear too.
Speaker 2 (07:49):
Yeah, it's been nice.
You've had a lot of peoplewhether it's businesses and
police, churches that wanted tohelp, and now they have an
opportunity and a place to gowhere their resources can be
utilized.
And if there's businesses outthere that are listening too,
what type of resources are youlooking for from them if they
want to donate, whether it'sfinancial or physical?
Speaker 3 (08:07):
I would say the easiest thing for them to get
involved in right now is so atthe police department.
For a little while we've hadthis community care card
initiative where, if you can getus like the prepaid visas and
bring those to the policedepartment, we keep those on
hand.
We utilize those all the timefor various things.
Whether you know, we comeacross a family who has some
(08:28):
food insecurity and we can givethem some Meijer gift cards to
help with that, or you know avictim of a crime that needs a
place to stay.
We recently had a family thathad some damage to their home
due to a fire and we were ableto put them up in a hotel for a
few nights while the insuranceand everything was getting ready
and they didn't have a place tostay until then.
So that's the easiest thing todo, I think, as a business, is
(08:52):
just throw some money at it andgrab some of those gift cards
and bring those back to us.
And I said we're not shy aboutgiving credit where credit is
due.
We have a lot of great businesspartners already at the police
department with some of thethings we've been doing, but
you'll see us out in thecommunity at some of our city
events throughout the summer.
(09:13):
Stop by the booth, talk to somefolks who are involved in the
Hope Collaborative already.
We'll have some informationgathering stuff out there like
what would you like to see?
Is there a community educationseminar we could host at, you
know, one of our partners,whether it's at a school, a
church, something like that.
And that's really what we'redriving for is we want to give
(09:34):
the citizens and the residentsthat need the help the voice to
tell us this is what we need,this is what we think would be
helpful to us, and then let usgo back to the drawing board and
figure out how do we bring itto them yeah, because it is all
for the citizens here, and youknow how do you feel like
personally.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
You know you having families as well, but also
working in the schools.
How does it, um, you know,knowing that there's that you're
able to help, or what's thatkind of feel like?
Speaker 4 (09:59):
well, I, I think that people are, they need
connections and they needcommunity.
And I think what happened withCOVID we lost those connections,
we lost those networks, we lostthe community and the
neighborhood feel for so longthat it really has hurt some of
our families, it's hurt some ofour students and our community
(10:22):
members, and I think it's timefor us to um really support each
other and look out for eachother.
And I think, um you know, I,for for me, at our school, I
didn't want it just to be whatcan we take from the community,
but what can we give back?
What can our students do?
Is there a resident like anursing home that we can go and
(10:51):
visit or is there a project wecan do to support the police?
Um, so we're teaching them at avery young age like, you need
to be connected and you need toreach out and support and um
care for others.
Yeah, because that's going tomake a big difference in their
lives when they're older and itit's exciting to see the impact
that even a young student canhave on the community.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
Yeah, and Mitch, you know you're out in the community
every day, interacting with somany different types of people
and family.
How does that, you know kind ofimpact you and your outlook and
everything it is?
Speaker 3 (11:19):
So you know, on the community outreach side of the
police department it's verydifferent than your day-to-day
going call-to-call.
There's a lot of little thingsthat kind of happen behind the
scenes, the connections that thepolice department and I are
able to provide.
You know, recently we hadsomeone who saw the pantry that
Brooke spoke of.
Again, for folks who don't knowabout that, there's a little
(11:42):
free pantry inside Walker Iceand Fitness and you can go there
anytime.
The Ice and Fitness Center isopen If you have something to
leave.
Fantastic, if you needsomething, take it, no questions
asked.
You can walk in and walk rightback out with what you need.
And we had someone who reachedout to the police department
because they saw a post on thatand she was like I don't know
(12:02):
how to get there.
I don't have a car, um, but Ithink I could benefit from some
of the things there.
Um, I was able to chat with heron the phone um box up some
things from the pantry and thenum utilize some of the resource
packets that we've alreadycreated as part of the hope
collaborative um through some ofthe the different initiatives
that schools are part of andchurches are part of and the
(12:23):
police department.
It was very rewarding to get acall back from her a few days
later, a very emotional callback from her about how that 30
minutes of my day impacted hermonth.
Basically, through some of thecommunity care cards that we
(12:46):
spoke of, she was able to go tothe grocery store and get some
things that weren't ramennoodles.
Through some of the resourcesshe was able to call and connect
with, that could give her somemore long-term support than what
just the little free pantrycould.
And then on top of that, shewas then willing to be like hey,
(13:09):
we also have some food thatmaybe aren't favorites in the
house that we could put back onthe pantry.
So I want to do that.
I want to get back out and thengive back also.
So it's just like Brooke saidit's about getting out there and
letting people know all thesedifferent places care.
There's so many hubs ofdifferent resources in the
community and having a networkof them it's just rewarding work
(13:33):
.
It's a different side of policework and it's something you know
.
I've been with Walker PD foralmost 11 years now and I found
out pretty early on I had moreof a passion for kind of the
behind the scenes type policework than the call to call daily
basis stuff.
So I love being involved inthings like this and you know we
(13:54):
have a very supportive chief inadministration at our police
department and then even fromcity leadership as well.
When we come to them and say,hey, this is something we want
to kind of dabble in, they giveus free reign to make those
connections and do what we needto do to make sure that people
are supported.
So it's a very nice thing to bea part of and we love to see
(14:14):
the benefits that it fosterswithin the community.
Speaker 2 (14:18):
Of course, and we are so grateful to have you in our
community and to have that drive, as well as everyone else who
is part of the HOPECollaborative.
Thank you so much for beinghere and, of course, we will get
more information as the HOPECollaborative comes out.
Look for it on the City ofWalker's Facebook pages or
social media.
The City of Walker PoliceDepartment's pages as well,
because we want everyone to getinvolved and also to benefit
(14:40):
from this project.
Thank you both so much.
Thank you and we appreciate youwatching.
Speaker 1 (14:43):
Thank you for joining us for this episode of the Made
in Walker podcast.
If you have comments orquestions about this podcast, or
if you have suggestions forfuture episodes, we'd love to
hear from you.
Please drop us an email atpodcast at walkercity.
Made in Walker is the officialpodcast of the City of Walker,
Michigan.
You can find Made in Walkerwherever you get your podcasts.
(15:08):
Thank you.
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