Responder Life Who We Are - Responder Life

Why Responder Life?

There are nearly three million professionals serving as police, firefighters, federal law inforcement, 911 dispatchers, emergency medical personnel in the United States. These men and women are the first responders to critical emergency situations in their communities.

What We Do

We serve First Responders and equip them to thrive.

Because First Responders experience the hurt in our communities like few others
Because First Responders have a unique opportunity to bring Peace to our communities
Because all people are of infinite value to God

We express our commitment to first responders through integrity; being committed to truth, service; being motivated by love, and unity, which is sustained by humility. The fruit of these values is trust.

Our Story

In twenty-five years as a member of the Portland Police Bureau, I observed the courageous men and women provide selfless dedicated service to our community every day. As my career progressed from a street officer to the Assistant Chief of Police I witnessed the cumulative negative impact on many of my work mates after the years of responding to countless emergencies, traumatic incidences and other human tragedies. The outcomes usually resulted in a very high personal cost. Such as: alcoholism, drug abuse, divorce, suicide, and cynicism resulting in less effective policing in our communities. Worse, there was little in the way of providing any assistance or support until it reached a point of crises in the officer’s personal life or work performance. The truth is we were losing our police officers in the process of protecting our communities. Sadly, this story is repeated all across our nation in the first responder world and continues to worsen. There has to be a better way of caring for those who sacrifice so much in protecting our cities, communities, neighborhoods and our families.

Responder Life was established in 2004 by a small group of police, fire, and 9-1-1 dispatcher families who shared the same concerns as my wife (Lois) and me. We eventually formed the foundational vision leading to the formation of Responder Life. Our vision was to strengthening first responders and their families to counteract the negative long-term effects of these careers. This would be accomplished through strategies to provide preventative tools to strengthen first responder families in learning to cope with the stressful demands of their careers. In turn, first responders and their families become the light of the world to their own culture and to the communities they serve. This focus continues to be our purpose to this day.

– Dave Williams, Founder and Board Member