Trauma Intervention Program NW

I strongly believe in Trauma Intervention Program's primary mission for providing direct support to community members suffering through a sudden, traumatic event and to the first responders assigned to the crisis.

I first became aware of TIP when I was a Deputy Sheriff in the early 1990s. I began noticing and appreciating the volunteers who showed up with me on the scenes of personal tragedy: car accidents, drownings, suicides, natural deaths, overdoses and many other tragic and traumatic life experiences that people go through. TIP Volunteers provided much needed emotional support to the people who at the scene allowing my colleagues and I to focus on our duties. TIP also responded to police and fire agencies when we experienced traumatic incidents within our own organizations, including officer-involved shootings, deaths of co-coworkers, suicide and the need for support to people affected by our operations.

My relationship with TIP continued through the 2000s as I became involved as a trainer, advisory board member and eventually as an Executive Board Member. And, as life would have it, in 2017, personally experiencing TIP's amazing support to my family, as we were rocked by the sudden and tragic death of our son.

As a result I know the importance of TIP for those going through trauma from multiple perspectives. TIP provides hope, guidance, and compassion through trained volunteers, who I refer to as our "Angels of Mercy." The 185 trained volunteers practice the ultimate in service and compassion to all community members of the Greater Portland/Vancouver area in need.

TIP Volunteers are needed as these life altering incidents occur, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, when community members first learn of a tragedy. These "angels" are there to help fill the void of the human need for emotional comfort, safety, support, and guidance. At a time when people just need to know that there is someone who cares, and who can stay long enough for family and friends who are not physically or emotionally able to be there for them yet...TIP Volunteers fill the gap!

I believe that God puts the right "people" in our lives at certain times, for special reasons, whether we know it or not. TIP Volunteers seem to be placed where and when people really need them the most. That has been my experience, too. While many of us have people in our lives who support us in hard times, they may not be any more prepared for knowing what to do than we do. TIP Volunteer responders are specially trained and able. They are specialists in trauma response and emotional first aid. They are silent communicators who often communicate by just being there – by simply showing up.

The volunteers I have trained, worked alongside with and who have come to my aid, all seem to be of the same make up: dedicated, kind, compassionate, humble and above all, committed to the mission. They are angelic. They show up, apply the emotional first aid to stabilize the traumatized, allow the first responders to do their mission and then they silently slip away. They "fly in," and then they "fly out." Silent, special forces angels, there for us all.

We can never know when tragedy will affect us, but you can be certain that TIP volunteers will be there when it does.