Home Watch Spouse Conference in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. A smaller group for our first conference on the road, but a huge impact, nonetheless. Several officers attended with their spouses. It was a fantastic day of laughter, tears, food, conversation, and incredible insights. One officer said afterwards that the conference should be required for all law enforcement couples!

Part of the team then drove to New Orleans, LA, to serve as support services for the Concerns of Police Survivors’ Traumas of Law Enforcement training. We gave out several dozen books and other information to the officers who attended. One of those, a homicide detective in the French Quarter, had read A Marriage in Progress previously with his wife and said it saved his marriage! He was handing out books left and right to the officers with him.

Victoria and her husband, Brent, presented a four-hour marriage seminar for the Shield of Wellness Conference in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. All the books we brought were sold, as the St. Louis Police Department snapped up the last ones on the table for their resource library.

One of our goals this year is to connect with departments and other like-minded organizations in Northern and Central California. We were asked to set up a table at a Family Skate Night for Placer County Sheriff’s Office, Roseville PD, and Rocklin PD. We made several connections, one of whom is now a new peer support team member!

We were invited to be a sponsor for the SPARTAN Golf Tournament in Lincoln, CA, and several team members were on hand to talk with officers from all over the area.

Also in April, Traci Davis joined our team as State Liaison Lead! Traci is married to Lt. Jason Davis of Placer County Sheriff’s Office and have three children. Together they are presenters for Home Watch. We are blessed to have Traci’s insight on our team!

Treasurer Lorie Osborne, after successfully turning over the bookkeeping to an accounting firm, joined a cohort with other local charities to learn more about how to create a compelling fundraising strategy. As part of this strategy, we applied for a DOJ grant with the help of a professional grant writer, funded by a generous donor. We will hear if the application was successful in September.

Early May we met in Turlock with representatives and spouses from several Central California departments. We are hoping to bring H2LOC to this area soon!

In South Bend, Indiana, the Midwest Gang Investigators Association Conference invited H2LOC to have a booth there. Indiana Liaison Jennifer Lanzen represented well, having many conversations and distributing resources to officers.

Mid-May we took a team to Washington D.C. for National Police Week to honor the previous year’s fallen officers. We reported to the Concerns of Police Survivors’ Conference for Support Services. It was an intense week of coming alongside those who lost their officer in the line of duty in many ways. Late nights, skipped meals, always ready for hard conversations at a moment’s notice. Two of our state liaisons were also there to escort other fallen officer families. A third state liaison was on call as a therapist for survivors. It was incredibly rewarding work.

At the end of the week, we met with Congressman Tom McClintock to express our support for three bills that help law enforcement officers and their families. We then enjoyed a celebratory Italian dinner. We finished the night (and week) scootering around the White House, Lincoln Memorial, Law Enforcement Memorial Wall, and other old neighborhoods of DC.

We returned from DC with several of our team members and instructors coming straight to California for our Peer Support Training. After a few days rest and a hearty welcome dinner with the entire team, we settled in for three days to train 18 new peers. We were hosted by El Dorado County Sheriff and their spouse group, Thrive 10-35. At the end of the training, we announced plans for a family support hotline in partnership with Cordico! More on this in coming months.

Early June our team met to strategize for 2024. We have new things coming that we’re very excited about! The most important takeaway was to solidify that we are on track, adhering to our mission and vision, and growing day by day.

Victoria was asked to present a family webinar to the US Forest Service. It was well-received across the nation, and USFS promptly asked for a recorded video presentation for their new officers and their families.

We welcomed Dr. Kathryn Hamel as our new Board member! She is a retired Lieutenant who served with Glendale PD and then Fullerton PD (SoCal), the spouse of a retired Chief of Police, an author, and a respected presenter across the nation. We are excited Kathryn has joined our team—she will bring professionalism and Board knowledge that we need as we grow.

Next was supporting the Concerns of Police Survivor’s Traumas of Law Enforcement training in Wichita, Kansas with resources and peer support. We were able to follow up with officers/survivors we connected with at Police Week, provide peer support, and distributed a couple dozen books and other resources.   

One of the things that didn’t go as planned was having to postpone the Home Watch Conference in Haverhill, Massachusetts. With the help of Katie Brown, our Massachusetts Liaison, we set up great speakers and an incredible conference, but we chose a difficult time for spouses to get away: the first day of summer vacation! We moved the date to February 3, 2024, as despite the low registration, we had incredible excitement and support throughout the region.

Amid all the work, we took time out for a Taco Night and Nertz with members of the Core Team. This was a great night of team building and connection.

We finished June with the addition of our new Texas Liaison, Lisa Grelle! Lisa, a law enforcement wife, serves with Backing the Blue - Denton and has been a champion for mental health for first responders for years. We are beyond excited to bring her on to continue work in the huge state of Texas!

Illinois Liaison Angie Lopez presented our new officer video and gave out books to 30 families at Waukegan PD. During Police Week, she provided support (cards, snacks and treats) to departments in Lake County (see pic).

In our spare time, we took 127 peer contacts, 74% of them one on one conversations. Of those calls, 42% were about family and relationship struggles, and 35% of those were regarding challenges with the LE career. We were able to follow up with and/or refer 83% of those. Many of us were also on hand for our departments, supporting them through ceremonies to honor the fallen that happen every May in our local and state areas. Through the generous specific giving of donors, we are supporting two spouses and one child through counseling.

In addition to all this, we continued to grow in organization, purpose, and unity as a team. We were contacted by several law enforcement entities for assistance, speaking opportunities, and help for their family programs. Several Bible studies are led by team members, and specific prayers for the law enforcement community are ongoing. Our volunteer staff positions number 20 people (one is a part time employee)! And next newsletter there will be at least a couple more that are already in the works. We are blessed, as we believe God brought every one of them to us. Together we all have put in THOUSANDS of volunteer hours, simply because we are led by a passionate calling to serve those who serve.

We thank you, our extended team of supporters. You make this work possible through your prayers, your encouragement, your involvement, partnerships, and your dollars. You also have sent us families so they can benefit from our work. We are constantly reminded that God is the Owner and Blesser of our organization—and we are its stewards!