Responding To First Responders – Good For Business - Good For Families – with Jeremy Wade

Transcript

Linda J. Hansen: Welcome. Thank you for tuning in to this episode of the Prosperity 101® Breakroom Economics Podcast. My name is Linda J. Hansen, your host and the author of Prosperity 101®- Job Security Through Business Prosperity: The Essential Guide to Understanding How Policy Affects Your Paycheck, and the creator of the Breakroom Economics Online course, the book, the course and the entire podcast library can be found on Prosperity101.Com. I seek to connect boardroom to break room and policy to paycheck by empowering and encouraging employers to educate employees about the public policy issues that affect their jobs. My goal is to help people understand the foundations of prosperity, the policies of prosperity, and how to protect their prosperity by becoming informed, involved, and impactful. I believe this will lead to greater employee loyalty, engagement and retention, and to an increased awareness of the blessings and responsibilities of living in a free society. Listen each week to hear from exciting guests and be sure to visit Prosperity 101.com

Thank you so much for joining with me today. Before I introduce my guest, I want to invite you once again to become a Prosperity partner. Prosperity Partners provide financial support of any amount to help keep this podcast on the air and your financial support would be most welcome. Just visit the Prosperity partner link on our website, Prosperity 10 one.com, to sign up and show your support today. There is another way for you to support our work by engaging with our strategic partners. The US Christian Chamber of Commerce, Christian Employers alliance and Red Balloon links to each organization will be in the show. Notes please consider joining those fine organizations and supporting our work at Prosperity 101®. And stay tuned each week as I'll be announcing exciting new strategic partnerships.

And now onto the interview. Have you ever needed help from a first responder, a police officer, or a firefighter? Most of us take for granted the risks and sacrifices they take for us. Those first responders, firefighters, police officers, and our military members risk their lives every day for us. One who does not take this for granted is my guest today. Jeremy Wade is the founder and executive director of Mission First Alliance, a national non-profit organization. Jeremy served in the Seattle Police Department for 13 years and was awarded the Medal of Valor, officer of the year, officer of the month, and the City of Seattle Community Outreach Leadership Award. He started the Seattle Police Department Resilience and Wellness training program, which led to consulting and training through Fearless Resilience, LLC. He also served as the executive director of the Seattle Police Chaplains association. In addition to serving with other local and national first responder ministries. Jeremy has been married for nearly 20 years, has four kids, with the youngest being adopted out of foster care. What a beautiful story that must be. But thank you, Jeremy, for joining with us today, for serving as a police officer, for serving your community, and just thank you so much for desiring to help others in those roles.

Jeremy Wade:

Thank you for having me on the podcast, Linda. I really appreciate the opportunity.

Linda J. Hansen:

Well, I found your information on LinkedIn. I was noticing some of your posts and saw some articles that had featured you, and I was so intrigued, and I thought that your story should be told. I also really appreciate the work of your nonprofit organization and thought it would be really good for people to know what you're doing, how they could support you, and to just help people become more aware of the work of first responders, police officers, firefighters, you know, and of course, our military members, what they go through behind the scenes and how we can support them financially and in other ways. And then connecting the dots like I try to always do, understanding some of the policies that will help you all. But also, what does that mean to business and what does that mean to people's jobs? So thank you so much for being here for that. Please tell the listeners how you came to serving in this organization, what led you to start it, and a little bit of your history in Seattle Police department.

Jeremy Wade:

Yeah, thank you. This has been a journey for me and my wife and our kids. I served for the Seattle Police Department for 13 years. I started in 2008. It absolutely was a calling. I loved everything about it and everything you're speaking to. I love the opportunity to bring just awareness, to bridge the gap between those that are serving as first responders in our nation and some of the things that they experience and go through and to those that haven't and desire to support them, but just may not understand what they might go through. So it was the most rewarding thing that I did in my life, but also the most challenging thing that I did in my life. Serving in the Seattle Police department. I had a number of things happen right off the bat early in my career that were very challenging on me and my family. But I think it just gave me the resolve that this is exactly where I'm supposed to be. This is exactly what I'm supposed to be doing. But those calls that were, some of them major incidents, paid a toll on me. It paid a toll on my relationship with my wife and our marriage. It played a toll on me and my faith. Even though I grew up going to church, I was now working a shift where I wasn't able to go to church on a regular basis. And just seeing, experiencing what I was on a daily basis was just paying a toll on me. So many of the things that I had heard can catch up and affect those in the military and among first responders in their mental health and their physical and their relational, you know, aspects of their lives, I just dismissed. I didn't think that they would affect me. And a couple years in so much of it was starting to just catch up with me in ways that I had never even imagined. And I think that it was at that point, recognizing that I was not who I wanted to be, that I surrendered my life to the Lord. And he began me on a journey to see the impact on those that I'm serving. Beside having opportunities to come alongside them and support them and train them and them and their families and God just continued to open up those doors. And that continued to snowball in opportunities in my department and alongside other departments and now in the work that we're doing with mission first alliance across our country to support our nation's first responders.

Linda J. Hansen:

That's a beautiful story. And, you know, explain to the listeners some of the things that you experienced. You mentioned relationship issues. You know, you probably had PTSD from some of the things that you went through. And if we're thinking about our neighborhood first responders, our neighborhood police officers, what are they going through on a daily, weekly, monthly basis that may be impacting their personal lives?

Jeremy Wade:

The amount of critical incidents that a first responder will go to in the span of a 20 to 30 year career, um, uh, is usually a few hundred critical incidents where the average person might experience one or two in their entire life. So not only is it the, uh, major incidents that they will experience, but it's also just the accumulation of all of them, uh, throughout their career, and the constant stress, you know, that they're under, uh, the lack of sleep, uh, you know, just the hyper vigilance, uh, you know, just trying to, um, be able to process, you know, what they're dealing with and compartmentalize and who can they talk to and how can they share, and who can, you know, relate to what they're going through? So it impacts marriages and families in a huge way because they don't a lot of times have the outlets or know how to process or know how to talk through some of the things that they're experiencing, and it just accumulatively catches up with them. And not only is there the stress of the calls, which the majority of the first responders that I will talk to will say they can handle the stress of the calls, they can handle the critical incidents, but there's so many other layers to it as well. There's a lot of times administrative stress and just the policies and procedures and how things are done inside an agency, and then there's also social and political pressures and stresses. And it is amazing how the lack of support fuels so much additional stress for first responders. You know, a lot of times they feel as though they can go out and they can do the work as long as they feel supported. And I think that that was an area that I was excited to start to step into and start to make a difference, you know, for the sake of them and their families and their wellbeing, but also for the sake of retention so that we can keep good men and women in these jobs to do this work, uh, and thriving. There are so many that, uh, I think that are just surviving, you know, their careers day in and day out with the grind, you know, trying to make it through a career, trying to make it to retirement, and not recognizing the accumulation of how things are catching up with them. Um, and they. They need the support throughout their careers. So they're not just surviving, but they are thriving, and they are, uh, so much more effective at their jobs, um, to, um, to. To make an impact on their communities, like, for the reasons they got into it. It's just so easy. The last thing I'll say is, it's so easy to live in that world of negativity, to live in that world of trauma, to live in that world of constantly supporting the most victimized in the darkest corners of our community, and for that. To not change you, for you to not have a jaded, negative worldview by the small segment of population that you're dealing with over and over and over again. And it just wears, you know, it wears on you. And for the, uh, the positive, uh, productive, hardworking, uh, mission driven people that start in these careers, uh, it's easy, uh, for you to lose some of that meaning, for you to lose some of that focus, for you to lose some of that drive, for you to lose some of that, uh, positive, um, uh, that positivity that you had hope to come into this with and make a difference. And it's easy to start to feel like, am I even making a difference? Am I making a difference for the victims that I'm supporting? Am I making a difference for those, you know, that I am enforcing the laws? But it doesn't seem as though the laws are being enforced, you know, on the back end in the judicial system. So it can be a career that really wears on someone throughout. Over the years.

Linda J. Hansen:

Well, it certainly can. And especially in more recent years where we've had defund police movements and so much violence against police officers and others. And I know I have a dear friend who is a firefighter in my community, and he said they were just out in the fire truck, I mean, not even responding to a call, but I think they were getting gas for the fire truck or something. I don't know. And people started throwing rocks at them just on a regular day, not even a day where there were protests or anything else, but they started throwing rocks at them, telling them how much they hate them and get out. And it's like, you know, but I bet if those people had a fire in their home or their car blew up or something, you know, what would be the first number they'd call? They'd call 911. Right. And you hear so many different reports of these defund police areas, and then suddenly, when they need help, they want the police right there. So you were in, speaking of defunding the police and kind of, you know, tying their hands to do their job, like you mentioned, you know, you can't even enforce the law or you're being prevented from enforcing the law. And even if you do enforce it, it's not being upheld in the judicial system. So it's got to be so draining emotionally. But as you said, you know, to go over and over and over again to similar incidences. So you were in Seattle in 2020. Can you tell us a little bit what that was like to be a police officer in Seattle during the summer of love, they called it?

Jeremy Wade:

Yes. Absolutely challenging. Absolutely what I believe were some of the darkest days in Seattle in a community that I grew up in and a community that I love and a community that I wanted to see thriving and just serving for years there. Um, it was. Yeah, it was definitely unfortunate to see. Um. I loved the journey that I had in my career and the position that I was in at that time. I loved having the opportunity to have trained the whole department on resilience and wellness in 2018 before 2020, which, uh. Um. And. And just the journey that the Lord had me on to, um, to understand my true calling, my purpose, which gave me a different perspective in all of it, too, because there are so many circumstances that we're gonna be in that the circumstances are gonna be difficult, and the circumstances aren't gonna change. But what is our perspective in going through it? What's our purpose? What's our calling? What's our mission and do we recognize what, you know, what the Lord's placed before us. I was in a position of support, supporting all the officers and family members through the riots and through COVID 2020. I had opportunities to support all the officers that were injured through the riots. I had opportunities to support spouses, and whatever most people had seen on the news was a fraction of what it was actually like for us, but similar in so many other communities around the country as well. And while it is normal for law enforcement not to feel supported, not to feel supported day in and day out, we know that there's a silent majority behind us, which we appreciate and we recognize. But when you don't hear or see the silent majority and you only hear or see that the negative and opposition in the minority and that minority grows and grows and grows, and that minority even begins to include some of the local politicians and leaders and others, it definitely begins to, you know, wear on you. So it was. It was a difficult time, and it. It challenged me, but it also gave me, again, another sense of resolve for, you know, the. The mission that God was putting before me, just being able to serve all the first responders there in that agency. So, yeah, my heart goes out to all those that were, you know, serving at that time but still continue to serve even today. That same sense of pressure is on our nation's law enforcement all over the country. I think that there's times where it ebbs and flows and there's times that it feels like it subsides a little bit, but I feel like it's simmering under the surface in our country in a constant level. And there are so many, especially in major cities across the country, that are questioning whether or not they want to continue to serve.

Linda J. Hansen:

Yeah, it's really heartbreaking to see the disrespect and the lack of appreciation for law enforcement and, you know, you see these criminals being let out of jail over and over and over and over again. I mean, even just recently, the week we're recording this, there was a fallen officer. They just had the funeral for a fallen officer in New York. It was very high profile funeral, but, you know, that particular assailant was, you know, in jail over and over again and just released. And so, you know, it has to be so disheartening. It's like you can arrest somebody, but so what? They'll be out the next day. So that's got to be a big thing. But just for listeners who may not remember what was happening in 2020 in Seattle and other cities across the nation, there were so many riots. Cities were burning. I know here in Wisconsin, we had riots in Kenosha. There's Portland, Chicago. I mean, New York. They were everywhere. But Seattle was really in the news a lot because of everything going on there. It was almost like ground zero of some of it, in some ways. Well, Minneapolis, of course, at that time. But wasn't it Seattle where they literally took over?

Jeremy Wade:

That was the east precinct of Seattle, where we had protests for days. I think it was a few weeks where every single night there was thousands of protesters in that area right outside the east precinct, and violent protests where they were throwing objects, catapulting objects, using lasers on officers. They were doing so much. It was a flashpoint over and over, night after night. And it got to the points that we backed off. We let them march through. And as they marched through, then they took over that intersection right there where the east precinct was. And then for a few weeks, had set up the chop, or Chaz, you know, the autonomous zone area. So, yes, it was difficult. It was. It was difficult to hold, you know, the protest lines night after night after night. But then it was even more back breaking and difficult to give that up and, you know, to allow them to, you know, kind of take over that area. It was demoralizing. It was hard, you know, we were told even the night before, you know, that we won't, you know, give it up as officers were starting to empty their lockers. And then the next morning, we, you know, backed off and, you know, let them, you know, move through. And, you know, and then it transpired the way it did. But there were so many changes that were happening at a rapid level, even on a policy level in the city, to where there was things that were being changed, and they were wanting us to use less lethal, less protective equipment, less of the tools that we would use to be able to peacefully maintain order. And it became more and more dangerous for the officers that were there on the lines, even to the point that I was hearing a couple days later through spouses that we were supporting, that they were hearing that last night from some of their officers, that here's where the will is. Here's the combination to the safe. I may not make it home tonight. Just like, as some of these changes were being implemented, it was making it increasingly more dangerous and more dangerous and more dangerous for us and everyone involved. So it was very difficult.

Linda J. Hansen:

You brought up a really good point, and I was so glad that we could get to this. And that's policy, you know, the ripple effects of what was going on there. And what continues to go on if there's not the proper support for first responders, police personnel, firefighters, military members. I mean, military members feel this a lot, and. But people don't think about their local police force or their first responders being traumatized like this. But the ripple effects of this go into every family. Think of the trauma for the spouses at home or the children at home who are getting that call that says, if I don't make it home, you know, I mean, it's just horrible. But you brought up, the policies were changing constantly, and policy matters. It matters who is elected. I'm just going to say it again, policy matters, and it matters who is elected. And so we must, must make sure we educate people on basic policies of freedom and the rule of law so that we can have elected officials at local, state, and national levels who will support our freedom, our rule of law, our ability to conduct life in a free manner, and we can support the needs of those who are supporting us. When we call 911, we want help, and we want someone who is emotionally stable, physically able, and engaged in the mission of protecting us or helping us. And so, you know, a big thank you to everybody who serves in that way. But what are some ways that, one, we could support policies? I know that this isn't really a big policy conversation, right. But there are things that we can do, or that we could encourage our elected officials to do that would, in turn support our first responders.

Jeremy Wade:

Yes. From my experience, one of the biggest ways that can be supported so that they can feel supported is in their mental and physical and spiritual well being. Their support. There are more and more policies across the country that are finally being passed to support those that are experiencing PTSD, that are being passed to provide adequate mental health support for those that are serving as first responders for them and their families. So that is a huge way. I think that the culture is shifting among our nation's first responders to recognize that they need that support, and that support needs to be more readily available. And I can speak on the first responder side. When we feel that much more supported and we are more healthy to physically do the jobs and we feel supported, we are going to do the job that much better, that much more effectively, and be able to do it in a better way. So I'd say that that is a huge way that people can get behind, and again, not be the silent majority, but be the vocal, uh, the vocal majority, uh, you know, to show the support they need to feel supported. Um, it's a hard job. But, uh, all of those that I served alongside, um, never questioned, uh, um, serving and sacrificing, uh, in the ways that they did. It was when they felt unsupported that they questioned whether or not they wanted to continue doing it.

Linda J. Hansen:

Well, it's demoralizing if you don't feel appreciated, and not only if you don't feel appreciated, but if you feel persecuted and constantly in danger. You know, the other thing that we didn't really touch on, um, but this constant stress level, you know, you're always in a fight or flight mode, in a sense, but, um, the sleep deprivation, I mean, when you're always on call and you have to respond to emergencies, and I know from, you know, being a military family and things to that, you know, even if you're off call, you're never really off call. It's like being a parent. You know, you're. You're never really off. Right. And, uh, it's just a constant pressure that is there, and that takes its toll. It really does. Like you mentioned, one of the things I really want to encourage people to consider, and, you know, this is a podcast for business owners in so many ways. So what does this mean to a business owner? This means to a business owner that you need to think about ways that you can support your local first responders, ways that you can support through donations. And we'll give you information about Jeremy's organization, which is mission first alliance. So we'll make sure you know how to donate to that, but provide for opportunities for your employees to understand the work of first responders. You know, I talk about doing lunch and learns and things. Of course, I would love every business owner to use my course or to have me in to speak for an event or something. But I also think it's really important that they help their employees to understand the work of local community members who are doing the important jobs of keeping them safe. And so when more people understand the depth of work it takes and the risks you take to protect them, I think they will be more engaged. So, business owners, you have an opportunity to really educate your employees and employees, talk to your employers and ask them to do so. Ask them to do something special for your first responders. Ask them to have some fundraiser or a picnic or something that could bless the first responders in the area. But it's a hard job, and in order for them to be able to serve us, we need to serve them. The other thing that I want everyone to think about is, when you go to the voting booth. Who are you voting for when you're voting for your local county board candidates or you're voting for your city council members? What types of things are they going to vote to fund? What is their worldview? What types of things are your taxes paying for or not paying for? You're paying taxes all the time, and you have to pay attention to how that money is being used because it's your money. It's not really the government's money. It's up to you to help your elected officials know your voice and how you want that money spent. In addition, please pray. Pray for your first responders. Pray for them. And, Jeremy, how can they support you the most in prayer?

Jeremy Wade:

Yeah. With mission first alliance, we set this up as a national, christian, gospel focused first responder alliance of organizations and chaplains and churches and individuals that have a heart for first responders. And we want to unite and equip all who have a heart for our nation's first responders and want to bring them real hope in Christ. I saw and I experienced firsthand that I couldn't do the job apart from Christ. And I recognized, as I was supporting other officers, that I can support them in their mental and physical health and relational health. But apart from Christ, there is a void. So our. Our desire is to build this alliance of all who have a heart for our nation's first responders and want to support them in a meaningful way to bring them real hope. And what I get excited about is when they have hope, they can share that same hope in their communities all over in their communities, for those that they're serving day in and day out. And together, I think we can have a greater kingdom impact. We have the desire to just bridge the gap between the body of Christ and those that I believe are on one of our nation's most unseen mission fields. They are out there struggling day in and day out, serving and sacrificing, and many don't know how they are struggling and the ways that they could and need to be supported. So we're trying to bring everyone together.

Linda J. Hansen:

I think your mission is beautiful. And when you talk about people being on the front lines, you know they're facing death every day. You know, I've had family members in police work, too. And, you know, you strap on your belt every day. You strap on your gun, you. You have no idea if you're coming home that night. And, you know, it's the same for military members. I mean, in reality, it's the same for all of us. So for everybody listening, you know, today might be the day, you know, you need to make sure you have a right relationship with God and that you're ready to meet your maker through a relationship with Jesus Christ. You know, and I know one thing I read in an interview, you said when you came to know Christ, there were a lot of people who said, you can't be a cop and be a Christian. You said, to the effect, I don't know how you could be a cop without being a Christian. And how did people respond to that?

Jeremy Wade:

That it took time. It took time. It took me over two years before I met another Christian in the Seattle police department, a department of 1400. So it took me time to learn how to live out my faith and for that to be incorporated into every aspect of my life. I think that I was starting to separate it, that this is who I am at work, this is what it looks like to be a good police officer, and then this is who I'll try to be and strive to be at home. And I just recognized that I could not do that. It's not possible. That's not how God's designed me, that's not God's plan. And so that's really the heart behind even the name mission first alliance, you know, who am I living mission first for what is my first priority? To love the Lord my God, with all my heart, with all my soul, with all my mind. And that is how I lead and that is how I live and that's incorporated into every aspect of my life. And when I had hope myself, then I could provide hope in so many different ways. We started a beds for kids program for kids that were sleeping on the floor, didn't have a bed of their own. I had opportunities to come alongside homeless families and put them up for the night in a hotel. I had opportunities just to come alongside them and love and support them in a way that, like God opened up my eyes to, that I didn't see and didn't recognize before that. And that's what we want for our nation's first responders, is to, for them to have hope and for them to be able to share hope. So we would just invite anyone to join this or to support this. I truly believe, you know, the Romans 13 four, you know, for he is God's servant for your good is talking about those that are out serving and protecting and sacrificing for others. They are out there for your good. This is a God ordained position. It is a calling. And I do believe that we, as the body of Christ are called to support them, to see them, to come alongside them, and to support them, you know, in a meaningful way. I think that they've, you know, all counted the cost, you know, and answered the call, you know, to protect and serve. And we just want to invite people to answer the call, you know, to join this alliance and to invest in them in a purposeful way.

Linda J. Hansen:

Well, that's a beautiful invitation, and such a noble cause. And so, listeners, I invite you to go to mission firstalliance.com. That website is missionfirstalliance.com, where you can learn more about Jeremy's ministry, the ministry of the alliance, and how you could support it. But again, one, we hope every listener understands the call of Jesus Christ on your life. And we shouldn't have to be in professions where we face death every day to have that sense of need to come into a personal relationship with our savior. So I, that's the first and foremost. So wherever you are, if you're not sure, just contact me, contact Jeremy. We can make sure you have resources that could help you in your relationship to Jesus Christ. And if you are a first responder, police officer, firefighter, military member, you are on the front lines of serving us. And we thank you. We thank you. We pray for you. We thank you. Please don't give up. We know many in your professions turn to alcohol or drugs or suicide. Your marriages are at risk. Your children are suffering from your lack of being able to be there or your stress levels. Please reach out for help. Go to missionfirstalliance.com, and Jeremy can connect you. You don't have to live with such stress. You don't have to live with such pain. We want you to be supported. We want you to know you're appreciated. So, Jeremy, do you have anything else to share before we close?

Jeremy Wade:

No, just thank you for this opportunity. I just sense the urgency in our nation for those that are on the front lines. There's such a divide that they're stepping into. They're stepping into the middle of just a divided country and trying to maintain peace and order and law and continue to serve, you know, in that calling. And they're on the front lines of a spiritual warfare and a battle, and they need our support. They need us to come alongside them and support them in a meaningful way, and they need the hope of Christ. And so, yeah, we just thank you for this opportunity to share what we're doing.

Linda J. Hansen:

Well, thank you for what you're doing, as well. And, listeners, again, it's missionfirstalliance.com. And for everybody listening. Like I said, please pray for them. But also don't forget that elections have consequences and policy matters. So pay attention to your policy issues. When you go to vote. Pay attention to who is supporting what policies when you go to vote and look to see are they adequately supporting your first responders, are they adequately supporting the rule of law in the judicial system. These are ways that we need to keep our communities safe, and it's up to us as citizens. It's up to us as citizens and voters to make sure that that is happening in our governments. But it's also up to us as just neighbors, friends, and people who appreciate other people to show the love, support, and care for the first responders who are risking their lives every day for us. So thank you again. Jeremy thank you.

Outro:

Linda J. Hansen: Thank you again for listening to the Prosperity 101® Podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, share, and leave a great review. Don't forget to visit Prosperity101.com to access the entire podcast library to order my newest book, Job Security Through Business Prosperity: The Essential Guide to Understanding How Policy Affects Your Paycheck or to enroll you or your employees in the Breakroom Economics online course. You can also receive the free e-book, 10 Tips for Helping Employees Understand How Public Policy Affects Their Paychecks. Freedom is never free. Understanding the foundations of prosperity and the policies of prosperity will help you to protect prosperity as you become informed, involved, and impactful. Please contact us today at Prosperity101.com to let us know how we can serve you. Thank you.

XXX END XXXX