When Beyond the Badge was created in 2019, we aimed to raise suicide and mental health awareness within law enforcement after the start of an epidemic in policing. After suffering great personal and professional losses in 2019, we were finally able to bring the mental health conversation to the forefront and start to chip away at the stigma that still exists today. As time went on, we realized how problematic the issue of mental health within law enforcement really was, and how much work needed to be done. Thankfully, we had been successful in reaching tens of thousands of law enforcement personnel throughout New York as well as hundreds of thousands of friends and family of law enforcement to help spread our mission that we undertook just three short years ago that “it’s okay to not be okay.”
What we didn’t realize, however, was that our mission was reaching outside of New York. We were being contacted by officers across the country as our messages and memes of hope were being acknowledged and appreciated, as well as convincing those who needed resources to reach out for them. It was then we realized that we’re on a much bigger journey than the one originally anticipated. While we realized that there is a need for mental health support in New York, there is also very much a need for support outside of New York as well.
With this recognized, Beyond the Badge is proud to announce the creation of our second chapter in this journey, Beyond the Badge New Jersey!! Beyond the Badge NJ (BTBNJ) will serve and support ALL FIRST RESPONDERS and their families in New Jersey. Once established and fully operational, BTBNJ will offer everything that Beyond the Badge NY is able to offer first responders and their families.
TO OUR FIRST RESPONDERS AND THEIR FAMILIES IN NEW JERSEY… we can’t wait to get started and we look forward to working with every one of you!