Natural disasters are an unpredictable part of life and often come with a high cost. The nation and the families united in blue sit fixed on the news watching the storm’s path and all of the recovery efforts; many worried for their loved ones who may still be missing, and the first responders that are working around the clock to locate the missing and assist the injured. Now is the time to band together for support and comfort. Many law enforcement families have been left with no home and very few personal possessions.

We ask families of officers and communities to stand together as a whole for their officers and their public servants to help those in need get back on their feet. All donations will be used to assist law enforcement families during the recovery.

To donate through Paypal

Also available is an online fundraising site – Visit Crowd Rise – Oklahoma Auxiliary Fundraiser

If you would like to assist further, please contact us via email at Info@wivesbehindthebadge.org and we can direct you with how you can further assist and coordinate with our auxiliaries to ensure aid is directed to the areas that are in need.

Our programs and services run by our dedicated volunteer staff and includes HALOS (Helping Aid Lost Offices’ Survivors), Families Behind the Badge, Blue Line Kids, KARE (K9 Assistance Resources Education), Scholarships, Online Forums, POLICE family training.

HALOS (Helping Aid Lost Officers’ Survivors) © ™ – Offers sympathy and support in the event of a line of duty or off duty law enforcement or K9 officer death or injury. A beautiful condolence or support card is sent to each family with the contact information for a volunteer (HALOS Angel) who is ready to help with any support needed. Through our partnership with the Arbor Day Foundation, for each year of service a tree is planted in one of the nationally endangered and protected forests in honor of a fallen officer killed in the line of duty. Our vision is that no family faces these situations alone.

Online Forums – these are the backbone of our organization and they supply a secure and friendly place to enjoy the company and fellowship of other law enforcement families. Verified members are welcomed to the secure side where they are safe from hackers and predators. Verification is completed by submitting a verification application the President then verifies the credentials of the officer and relationship to the member.

Families Behind the Badge © ™ – Provides the same support and resources including a separate and secure support forums for family members of officers such as husbands, parents, grandparents, siblings, and children.

Blue Line Kids © ™ – Our online BLK forums are closely monitored by staff and completely hidden from the rest of the forums population to offer a safe online environment for minor children of law enforcement. Games, contests, and activates are just some of the things this program offers to children of law enforcement. We are working to have members of BLK work in their schools with the School Safety Officer on anti-bullying campaigns and at risk peer mentoring.

Scholarships are currently offered to children, spouses, and life partners of officers. These scholarships are aimed to promote higher education of children and spouses. This program continues to grow and expand and the number of scholarships offered per year has increased.

KARE (K9 Assistance Resources Education) © – Our KARE program is currently undergoing a makeover. We hope to launch this great program in the spring of 2013. This program will provide vests to K9 officers, heat alarms, and assist in the retirement, training, and acquisition.

State Auxiliary Committees – The auxiliaries act as extensions of the corporate offices located in California. Each are registered within their state to conduct business and fund raise to provide programs and services at a local level. Today WBTB has auxiliary chapters in most states and in the Philippines. Each auxiliary is lead by a director who oversees volunteers in their area. The auxiliaries participate in various activities such as critical incident support, appreciation projects for officers and agencies, plan events for spouses and families, speak to agencies and families, assist with graduations and events, and fundraising projects.

POLICE family training – This training course is taught by our trained staff and provides education to both the new and veteran families in the subject of law enforcement family dynamics and support. This course is certified in several states and we are currently working to have it certified nationally. The law enforcement lifestyle is unique and when you add a spouse and family into this it can become challenging and very rewarding but it is not without complications. Shift work, working holidays, birthdays, anniversaries, physical and emotional demands during stressful call outs, long hours, court, all of these add challenges the average family does not experience. This training course helps families set up their core support foundation so they can as partners work through the difficult distractions and appreciate their lifestyle.

Wives Behind the Badge, Inc. is proud of the programs and services we provide to the law enforcement community. We strive to serve a positive voice for law enforcement in the communities and to help foster a better relationship with community members. We will continue to grow our programs to offer more services and resources for law enforcement families. We are bonded by our lives, one family, one vision, one badge.

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]]> http://www.wivesbehindthebadge.org/check-out-our-new-store-items/feed/ 0 http://www.wivesbehindthebadge.org/life-behind-the-badge-remember-them/ http://www.wivesbehindthebadge.org/life-behind-the-badge-remember-them/#comments Thu, 09 May 2013 23:27:43 +0000 Joy Kuoha http://www.wivesbehindthebadge.org/?p=4090 Continue reading →]]> Have seen a lot of praises for our law enforcement men and women lately and that really makes me happy to see.  To give them the credit for getting the people responsible for the bombing and the shooting of a police officer is only part of what they deserve.  They deserve our utmost thanks and respect for the type of job they do.  When I hear naysayers out there in my own neighborhood bashing my husband and his brothers in blue, my heart breaks.  They are our protection against the evil of the world and to make it so that they are the enemy is crossing the line.

The snide remarks and spitting is just part of what they have to deal with on a daily basis.  The other hard part is knowing that there are people that would just rather put their head in the sand and say, “Oh, that was sad about that officer dying.  When is the next game on?”  Things like that may be said as a joke or as an off the cuff comment but when a family of a police officer hears that, it rips us to the core.  They are not just men and women that go out and take care of business.  They are also husbands, wives, sisters and brothers.  They are people who actually care a lot about our country as a whole and want to make it better by taking out the riffraff of the community, one criminal at a time.  Of course, there is no way they can rid society of this infestation but they at least feel it is their duty.

A wise man once said that when men and women go in the academy, they go in wanting to be of service to their fellow man.  They aren’t hardened by life and the nastiness that is out there.  It is when they are an officer that they are faced with this distortion of life and begin to change.  We take good men and women and throw them into the pit of society because that is what they feel is their calling.  (Clark and Tracie Paris of Pain Behind the Badge).

Let us remember that our officers are not robots living a life of no feelings.  They have a heart and a family.  Remember that the next time you feel like making a comment about them.  Their families love them more than words can express and we need to make sure we hold them up like we did right after the bombing suspect was taken into custody.  We should be celebrating them everyday!  The month of May is a great time to do this!  Take the time this month to celebrate our LEO’s.  Let them feel special, even if it is a shake of the hand, a smile and a thank you, or a good cup of coffee.  Their families will thank you.

Kristen Wallitner has been in love and married to her LEO husband for 16 years and they have 2 children, ages 8 and 5.  They do a lot of hiking and outdoor things as a family.  Kristen is also very interested in running, gardening, writing, and cooking, studying her Bible, and spending time with family.

But that doesn’t scratch the surface.

We are the loved ones of the warriors that hold the blue line.  We are the spouses, the fiancés, the girlfriends, of those who serve and protect.  Our sister program, Families Behind the Badge is comprised of the mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers of those same men and women.

When my husband is out on a dangerous call WBTB is the quiet voice on the other end of the phone telling me stay calm, reassuring me he will be ok.  When the nights get long and lonely WBTB is the words on the screen reminding me that I am not alone.

When a law enforcement officer is killed or injured, WBTB is the hundreds of emails, messages, text messages and phone calls that begin flying across the country asking one simple question, “How can we help?”  When tragedy strikes the volunteers of WBTB are the tireless crusaders for the fallen, for the injured and for their families.  They do not rest until they are sure they have offered every bit of help they are capable of offering.

When joyous occasions arise the sisters of WBTB are most often the first I tell.  When a baby is born, that baby has surrogate aunts across the country.  When Christmas rolls around my mailbox overflows with cards and tokens from my WBTB sisters.  When I’m feeling down a message from them never fails to perk me up.

So often I feel that WBTB is the slightly lighter, slightly softer blue line; the one right at the edges of the hard blue line, the one that holds the blue line together.  We are the rock solid support for the men and women that face everyone’s nightmares every day.  We may be softer, we may be prettier, but we are just as strong as those that we support.

WBTB is family.  They say blood is thicker than water, and I am here to tell you, blue blood is nationwide and as thick as it gets.

Our goal in offering these classes is to present the families with basic tools to use and customize to their relationships to live life on their terms. Wouldn't it be nice to see law enforcement having one of the lowest divorce rates of all occupations? P.O.L.I.C.E. Families was designed by WBTB’s chaplain, Mendi Keatts, during her Master’s program for Mental Health Counseling. She and her husband – a Roanoke Virginia Police Lieutenant with 18 years on the job – worked together to get the class started in their academy. She wanted to create something more effective for her husband’s department’s academy than just a Lt. offering the spouses an education session on the behavior changes an officer experiences in the academy that they would have to learn to deal with and adjust to. Relationships, especially marriages, work best when both individuals give 100% to the relationship. One person doing all the accommodating for another creates resentment and tension. Therefore, the class is presented by a husband and wife who work together and share their own successes and failures in a casual atmosphere for the officers and any family members who wish to attend. In an effort to make family life work with the class presentation, children are made to feel welcome with snacks and activities. Since its initial presentation in Roanoke, Virginia, the class has also been presented in California at the Back the Badge conference by the WBTB Vice President Amanda Pekarek and with other individual officers and spouses across the country both in person and via Skype. After attending the class and training to present, Melisa Cross (Oklahoma Auxiliary Director of WBTB and Auxiliary Coordinator) and her husband Butch (Lahoma Police Chief) have spearheaded its accreditation for Oklahoma as Mental Health Continuing Education Units, starting a trend to do so in all states. Butch and Melisa both stated that even after 20 years of marriage, they learned some things and found it a valuable experience. Contact us here for more info.

 We've kicked out neighbors, friends, and relatives…. No one is safe if the Steelers are losing! J I came into the superstition side of it when I was 16 years old.  I walked into the Steeler room to tell my parents “bye” before going shopping with friends.  At precisely that second the other team threw an interception that we caught and ran in for a touchdown.  My dad deemed me good luck and forced me to call my friends and cancel the shopping trip because I wasn't allowed to leave the room after that! LOL! I've been die-hard ever since. Talents - I can sing without making you want to cover your ears! LOL  I have been told I’m a good writer.  I've had things published in newspapers and magazines, and am currently writing a novel. Occupation - I do heating and air-conditioning for a living.  I have a mechanical engineering degree, and I work as a Service Agreement Manager, while also assisting the president.  I've designed duct systems, and manual J load calculations. My dream vacation would be…..  I LOVE taking cruises.  My husband and I are taking a cruise in April, it will be my 10^th anniversary on my 10^th cruise.  I would love to take a European cruise one day!  I also really really want to go overseas to Venice and Greece. My super power is….. organization?!?!!? LOL  I really am a very organized soul…. I save everything and love being able to find things at the drop of a hat…. So if you look at my computer everything has a folder and a sub folder.  It’s crazy! Something you can do better than your spouse/ significant other….  There are too many to count! LOL  I’m just kidding…. Um my husband and I are total opposites…. I’m creative and figurative, and he is very literal and straight forward….  So most things that I do, he would never try…. And it’s the same for the things he does! J  I figure if you put us together we have all the bases covered. My greatest achievement has been ….  I would have to say being a BUSY mom.  I work very hard to make sure that my little girl is never affected by the decisions I make in life or the things I sign up to do….She always comes first and I always ALWAYS have time for her.  We are inseparable. For example:  I already have a 4 year degree from Meredith College… but I decided to go back to school for another degree/ different major.  I was working full-time, and my little girl was 3-years-old.  I stayed up late and did homework after she went to bed every night, studied during nap times and still managed to never miss an important event at preschool and hosted play-dates every weekend, and planned birthday parties.  So in just 2-years I went to school full-time, worked full-time, and was a mom and a wife and graduated WITH honors at the head of my class with my Mechanical Engineering degree.  I am a firm believer that if you work hard, anything and everything is possible. Something that no one knows about me is…..  My husband and I have been through so much together, much more than the average couple.  My husband was in the army and left for boot camp 3 weeks after we met each other.  We fell in love quickly before he left and got to know each other through letters.  He came home from boot camp and we were together for just a few months before he was “activated” and had to move on base for a year so we had limited visitation.  After 12 months he came home and proposed to me.  We planned on having a big wedding until 9/11 happened.  Just 5 months later, he received deployment papers on Monday, we rushed to the chapel and got married that Friday (coincidentally it was Valentine’s Day), and he shipped out that Sunday.  We only had 48 hours together as a married couple before he left for Iraq for 11 months.  Our entire first 4 years together we only spent 19 months in the same city and it was broken up over the years. I really wanted to have our big wedding at my college chapel…. I called to schedule our “wedding” for our 1-year anniversary but the college said the chapel had a 2 year waiting list.  I was devastated.  The chaplain called me back and said, we have one day open in the next 24 months, but I doubt you want it, because no one does…. I asked him what day it was, and he said “Valentine’s Day”!!!! I jumped on it!!!! And Kenny and I had the wedding of our dreams on the exact 1-year anniversary! J Years later we decided we wanted kids…. So we tried conceiving.  After about 2 ½ years we were tested, and it was determined that we would not be able to have kids together.  So we looked into adoption.  I met with a friend that was a social worker, had paperwork from so many adoption agencies, and had made our profile as adoptive parents.  I was so stressed out at the time.  We went on vacation, on a cruise, and felt seasick the whole time.  It was my 7^th cruise, and I have never been seasick before….  I came home, and just took a pregnancy test, just to rule that out, and got the shock of lifetime when I found out I was pregnant!  We were overjoyed.  We still plan to adopt one day, because I feel like God has that in the stars for me! You can also take into consideration my difficult pregnancy.  I was in a car accident while 6 months pregnant, was diagnosed with pre-eclampsia, which developed into eclampsia by the time I delivered… and was leaking amniotic fluid.  They finally delivered Mackenzie 2 months early, after I spent a month on bed rest and 2 weeks in the hospital.  I had multiple steroid injections and was coping with the fact that my baby could spend weeks or even months in the NICU.  God had it all in His hands though…. Because she was delivered and only stayed in the NICU for 6 short HOURS!!!! She was perfect, very petite at only 32 weeks, but absolutely PERFECT! So long story short, Kenny and I have been through so much together….. if we ever fight…. We never take it too far, because for us, we just sit back and realize that we have been through far too much together to let something trivial affect our marriage.  We are as strong as strong can be. My favorite food is …..  I LOVE food.  I have true appreciation for chef’s and the art they create.  I am one of those people that if you go to a nice restaurant you NEVER EVER special order your food, because the chef prepared it that way for a reason….  I never put salt on food before I try it, and I will try anything and everything once.  I have eaten escargot (a personal favorite), frog legs, snake, shark, and I love sushi.  But you also can’t go wrong with my mom’s chicken and rice, or good old chicken Parmesan. The 3 things I would want if I was stranded on a desert island are ….  Well first I would wish for the obvious things, a boat, my family, and unlimited food and drink! LOL   But if that wasn't available, I would want my leave in conditioner (infusium) and my chap stick (Burt's bees) – I’m ADDICTED, and a football that I would name Mike Tomlin so he could be my version of Tom Hank’s “Wilson” and he would be my lifelong friend, and I could tell him all the plays I wish he would make in the game!!!!!  P.S.  If you don’t know who Mike Tomlin is, he is the Head Coach for the Pittsburgh Steelers.  DUH! My secret crush is…… Okay I don’t crush on celebrities but I do crush on “characters”…… so I am in love with Orlando Bloom but ONLY as the Elf Legolas in Lord of the Rings…. I also have a big thing for James McAvoy as Wesley from the movie Wanted and the legendary Indiana Jones!

Our first responders, just like all other tragedies, are on the front lines.  They don’t have the option to stay with their families and hunker down with warm blankets and a storm radio.  Their choice is to make sure that their families are safe enough without them and then they are off to make sure the rest of the population is safe.

With the rain and wind pouring down on them, they risk their lives for strangers.  They put themselves out to make sure that they can bring people in to safety.  It doesn’t matter what sort of uniform they wear or how many stripes they have, they are all heroes in my eyes.  These sorts of people don’t worry about their own safety as much as they worry about those around them.  They were born to be of service to their countrymen and this is their calling.  They do it proudly and with no grumbling.  Their mission is clear and they will carry it out to the best of their ability.

So stay safe out there and know that the rest of the country is keeping you in their thoughts and prayers.  Be proud of what you are doing and even this storm will pass.  It will be but a distant memory but the good you will do will surpass even the greatest waves.

Kristen Wallitner has been in love and married to her LEO husband for 16 years and they have 2 children, ages 8 and 5.  They do a lot of hiking and outdoor things as a family.  Kristen is also very interested in running, gardening, writing, and cooking, studying her Bible, and spending time with family.