Mission Statement
Friends of Firefighters is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization that provides free, independent, and confidential mental health counseling, peer support, and wellness services to active and retired FDNY firefighters and their family members. Firefighters encounter situations the public rarely, if ever, must face. Reducing the stigma associated with mental health in the fire service can help protect those who risk their lives every day for others.
Description
History
Thousands of active and retired firefighters responded to the alarm on September 11, 2001 and 343 members of the Fire Department of New York (FDNY) perished in the collapse of the World Trade Center. Friends of Firefighters was born within days of this catastrophic event, providing meals for exhausted rescue workers, facilitating support at funerals and memorials, and ultimately listening and responding to firefighters’ request for mental health and wellness services.
Firefighters face trauma every day, impacting their physical and mental health, as well as that of their families, even long after retirement. Friends of Firefighters understands the common effects of the job, such as stress, anxiety, insomnia, injury and sickness, strains on relationships and family life, loneliness after retirement, or struggles with addiction. We know it can be hard to ask for help, especially for a community who is so used to helping others.
Today our FREE programs and services connect active and retired firefighters and their families with mental health and wellness services. Firefighters are there for us in some of the worst hours of our lives and it is a privilege to be there for them in their times of need. We must continue to do our very best to ensure their safety and well-being.
