Gary and Colette Benoit know firsthand the stress and trauma front-line workers face daily.
Gary has been a police officer in Edmonton for 24 years. He sees the impact of constant exposure to traumatic events on an individual’s mental health. Additionally, he has seen how it can also affect their families.
That’s why they founded Benoit Wellness Consulting, a non-profit organization that provides front-line workers with mental health resources.
Gary and Colette founded the Front-Line Resiliency Project through their organization. The project provides front-line workers with services to manage their mental health. These includes counselling, support groups and also financial advising.
“Resiliency is defined as the ability to bounce back from a crisis,“ says Gary. “We have to understand where we’ve come from and what we’ve gone through and also know what we want to grow into. And that’s what we offer. We offer that ability to see what [front-line workers] could be.“
Benoit Wellness Consulting hosted the first annual Everyday Heroes Gala in 2019, and it’s back again this year for the second time to recognize front-line workers who serve their community by putting their lives on the line.
“My husband went through his mental health journey, and one day we were just sitting around,“ says Colette. “So, we thought that we should celebrate first responders for the amazing things they do. We combined that with the awareness of mental health. With that, we’re trying to remove the stigma of front-line workers talking about their mental health. We are also raising funds for a good cause.“
The mission of the Everyday Heroes Gala is to bring first responders together through community and connection. Additionally, it’s worth noting that it costs over $25,000 to fund a PTSD Service Dog. Therefore, Gary and Colette hope to raise funds through the gala to get a service dog to benefit first responders and veterans, ultimately improving their mental health.
In addition, the gala includes an award ceremony for front-line workers, entertainment, silent auctions, raffles and multiple fundraising opportunities. In attendance are also numerous organizations that support first responders that can provide them with mental health support.
Trudy Dover, a former Correctional Officer, was nominated for the Everyday Hero Award. She had to leave her job due to an injury sustained while on duty, which affected her mental health.
Trudy Dover
“Honestly, I didn’t want to leave the job because it’s what I knew; it’s what I was good at,” says Trudy. “But it wasn’t until going through the treatment and realizing where I was at mentally that I realized I couldn’t go back there; it was toxic for me.“
Trudy says that if it weren’t for the injury, she would’ve stayed and wouldn’t have realized that she was ‘lost‘ and ‘broken.’
Since distancing herself from that environment, she came to a realization. The job required her to suppress her emotions. Eventually, this led her to neglect her feelings and forget she is a person too.
“A lot of times, front-line workers don’t feel recognized,” says Trudy. “For myself and others I’ve been around, just a little appreciation goes a long way, and it motivates them to keep going.”
Gary and Colette offer resources such as grief counselling, financial advice and resiliency workshops for front-line workers and their families to heal from their mental health issues through their organization.
