Stronger Together: Supporting First Responder Mental Health with the First Responder Center for Excellence

Some parts of the job stay with you.

Not always the specifics of the calls themselves. Not always the scenes. But the weight of it.

For years, that side of the job wasn’t talked about. Then suddenly it was.

Sometimes in ways that helped, sometimes in ways that didn’t.

Now, the conversation is evolving again.

This month, we’re proud to feature the First Responder Center for Excellence (FRCE) through our Fire Department Coffee Club and the Fire Department Shirt Club.

Through the Coffee Club, $2 from every subscription or bag purchased supports FRCE’s behavioral health and wellness programming. Through the Shirt Club, $5 from every shirt does the same.

The funds raised will help expand training, develop new resources, and make critical mental and behavioral health support more accessible to firefighters across the country.

This matters so much because we all know that answering the call is only part of the job.

Sustaining a career — and taking care of yourself along the way — is something else entirely.

Changing the Conversation and Backing It with Action

The First Responder Center for Excellence was created to support the health and wellness of first responders before things reach a breaking point.

As an affiliate of the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation, their mission is rooted in prevention.

“We need to do more than just honor the families of fallen firefighters,” said Dena Ali, a Battalion Chief in Raleigh, North Carolina, and FRCE’s Behavioral Health Program Manager. “We need to prevent firefighters from dying.”

As Managing Director Frank Leeb often says, “The FRCE works to prevent families of firefighters from ever meeting the NFFF.”

That mission extends directly into mental and behavioral health. And it comes with a perspective that may feel different from what we’ve typically heard.

There was a time when these conversations didn’t happen at all.

As a student beginning research into mental health in the fire service, she would carry printed copies of her resources, but she always kept them face down, hoping to head off uncomfortable conversations.

“I didn’t want anybody to see what I was researching,” she said.

Then she began noticing a shift in the way people in and out of the fire service viewed mental health, wellness, trauma, counseling … all of it. In a sense, it was a welcome change to get those difficult realities out in the open.

But, she said, she began to see deep problems in the way that first responders were internalizing trauma.

In some cases, firefighters wore it like a badge of honor. Simultaneously, many seemed resolved to the idea that life-changing trauma is an inevitable part of the job.

“We went through a period of attempting to normalize it, but then everybody’s just saying, ‘Nobody should see what we see. This job ruins us.’”

That kind of messaging, while well-intentioned, can miss the mark.

“That is so not helpful,” she said. “It’s scaring people off.”

Today, the focus is shifting toward something more practical. More empowering.

“Yeah, we see bad things,” she said, “but we can control our responses by taking better care of ourselves ahead of it.”

That means building resilience before things go wrong.

It means giving firefighters the tools to support each other in everyday moments.

That’s the idea behind peer support, which Ali said is an essential element of the path forward.

FRCE supports that culture through workshops, training, and free online resources designed for the realities of the job.

That includes courses focused on sleep, stress, and overall well-being, along with tools to help firefighters recognize when someone might be struggling to respond with empathy.

“Every first responder talks about their bucket and how it builds up,” she said. “But we rarely talk about the things that we can do to empty our bucket.”

Sleep. Relationships. Time away. Support systems.

FRCE’s work is about bringing all of that together and making sure it’s accessible to departments across the country.

The funds raised this month help make that possible.

They support in-person workshops for departments that may not otherwise have the budget. They help develop new online training modules built on research and real-world experience. 

“It’s directed at somebody who is rock-bottom struggling but not ready to open up,” she said.

Stronger Together, One Kitchen Table Conversation at a Time

For all the programs and resources available today, one truth hasn’t changed.

When someone is struggling, they don’t reach for a system first.

They reach for someone they know and trust. Often, that’s another firefighter.

And it’s the idea behind the incredible design on this month’s Fire Department Shirt Club shirt and Coffee Club bag.

Two firefighters. Two cups of coffee. Hands resting on the table. A simple message: Stronger Together.

It reflects something that’s always been part of the fire service.

“For the history of the fire service, problems are solved at the kitchen table,” Ali said. “It’s where we all come together. It’s where we develop trust. It’s where we develop those bonds.”

In May, we hope those conversations are happening over cups of this exclusive roast. Crafted with a premium blend of Colombian beans, this roast delivers rich notes of lemon and dark chocolate.

Those real conversations where real support begins.

And if you’re looking to take it a step further, we encourage you to check out Ali’s book, “Hope Out of Darkness: A Guide to First Responder Mental Wellness,” or to check out FRCE’s Mental Wellness Symposium, held May 31-June 3 at the University of Iowa and featuring some of the brightest minds in the field of firefighter health and wellness.

Firefighters have always taken care of each other.

That hasn’t changed.

What’s changing is how we support one another — and how intentional we’re becoming about it.

With every bag of coffee and every shirt this month, you’re helping make us all stronger together.