H.O.P.E Beyond The Badge

Travis Gribble joins us and shares about his career in law enforcement. He talks about what inspired him towards policing, the many roles he held during his career, including SWAT Team Leader. Travis explains some of the calls that stick with him, the ones that impacted him most, his experience with suffering and suicidal ideations, how he reached out for help, what that process was like, and the transformation of healing and growt...

Dave, Stacey, and Erin join us on behalf of 22 Mohawks - an organization that empowers Veterans and First Responders to rediscover purpose, build resilience, and thrive. In this episode each of them share with us their why - the life experiences, exposures, and circumstances that connects them directly to these cultures and led to creating the passion that they each carry with them into the work that they're are doing.

They shar...

Dave Betz - a law enforcement officer with decades of experience , and his wife Janice share the tragedy of losing their son - David Kevin Betz III - to Suicide. David was in the process of becoming a law enforcement officer himself.

They talk about the job, how it impacts those who wear the uniform, how it also impacts the families of those who serve, the struggle they all face, the pain and grief involved with losing a famil...

Joe shares with us about his career in the fire service. He speaks openly about difficult calls and how he was affected by them. He talks about the progressive symptoms he began experiencing, having panic attacks, and how he eventually considered taking his own life. His wife Amy shares her perspective. She talks about how Joe's mental health affected her, their marriage, and their family. Then Joe reached out for help. Joe an...

Dave and Christie Dyke join us on the podcast.

Dave talks about working in Law Enforcement for 28 years, how he expected to stay on the job for at least 35 years, and shares how stress, trauma, mental health challenges and suicidal ideation led him to an earlier retirement than he had planned for.

His wife Christie shares how she devoted herself to saving Dave, along with their marriage, how she herself became lost along the way, an...

Barb Bigalke joins us on the podcast.

Barb is the founder of the Center for Suicide Awareness, a 501 c3 non-profit where they create the kind of mental health support that doesn't wait for someone to hit rock bottom. No red tape, no judgment, just real, early intervention. Barb talks about working for the department of justice delivering death notifications, and how those duties led her to an awareness about the impacts of death by ...

Madison is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor & the owner of Madison Elie Counseling where she provides online trauma therapy for adults across Maryland & Pennsylvania. Coming from a First Responder Family, Madison has been working almost exclusively with First Responders, Veterans, and other professionals in high stress roles since 2018. Her work focuses on helping clients recover from trauma, reduce burnout, and r...

Fran Graham is an International crisis response & trauma specialist, instructor & consultant with proven emergency management skills. Proficient team builder & strategic planner, with an emphasis in First Responder Peer Support & Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM).

Before Fran was a trauma specialist, before she was an expert in peer support, and before she was an international crisis response leader, Fran w...

Our regular listeners and followers might notice that this episode is being released on a Wednesday, where our weekly episodes are typically released on Fridays.

The reason for that is because SGT Alex G. Kokoros died by suicide on October 29th 2018. Today marks the 7th anniversary of his loss.

So this episode is in Memory of Alex - with his Family in mind.

This episode is also a tribute to Alex's friends & fellow off...

Jeff Dill is a retired Fire Captain , the founder of Firefighter Behavioral Health Alliance (FBHA), and the behavioral health administrator for Las Vegas Fire and Rescue. At FBHA they hold workshops to educate firefighters, EMS personnel, and dispatchers on behavioral health, moral injury, and suicide prevention. They also track data on firefighter, EMS, and dispatcher suicide, host retreats for suicide loss survivors, and so much ...

Matthew and Elizabeth Fiorenza join us on the podcast .

Matty and Liz are husband and wife, they are both strong advocates for first responder and family mental health and well-being.

Matty is a retired firefighter paramedic with 22 years of service. His journey into the realm of mental health advocacy began a decade into his career when he began facing personal battles with anxiety, stress, and depression, which ultimately led to ...

Retired Police Chief Neil Gang joins us on the podcast.

Chief Gang is a nationally recognized Law Enforcement Leader with over 36 years of service, he has a reputation for innovative leadership, transformational change, and a deep commitment to organizational wellness.

Chief Gang discusses his career in law enforcement, he openly shares about losing a friend and fellow officer early on in his career to suicide. In the wake of that lo...

Carrie Mathews joins us on the podcast.

Carrie is a police officer from from the Chicago Police Department, and comes from a family of service in law enforcement. Mental health has always been a focus of Carries. However, when her father - a retired officer himself - died by suicide, Carrie became an outspoken advocate for mental health in first response, and has become known for bringing attention to "the other side of suicide...

Katie Carlson joins us on the podcast.

Katie is the director of wellness initiatives and peer support team coordinator for the Marion County Sheriffs office in Indianapolis Indiana. She also serves as an instructor at multiple law enforcement academies where she teaches meditation, yoga, breath work, and crisis intervention strategies to public safety professionals, with a focus on nervous system regulation and trauma recovery.

Kati...

Donna Georgiana joins us on the podcast.

Donna lost her son Mitchell - a police officer, to suicide. After Mitchell's loss, and based on one of the last text messages he had sent, Donna felt a sense of duty to keep his name alive, and his memory served, so she founded the non profit "Gotcha Covered Blankets".

While she has always been involved with church and community, Donna now focuses on this foundation to keep her sons name aliv...

Retired Fire Chief David Rhodes joins us on the podcast.

David is a 39 year veteran of the fire service retired from the Atlanta Gorgia fire dept. He currently works for Clarion events as the Vice President of Education for Clarion Fire Rescue Brands, he is the Editor in Chief for Fire Engineering Magazine, and the educational director for the Fire Department Instructors Conference (FDIC). He is a Chief Elder for the Gorgia Smoke D...

Mike Morgan joins us on the podcast.

Mike transitioned from working as an accountant to a 30 year career of service in law enforcement. In this episode Mike reflected on those years, he spoke about his love for the job, shares with us about some of the difficult calls he responded to, including the incident that was most impactful for him. He shares his experience of coming to recognize that he had been affected by trauma, the steps...