UPDATED: 9/11/2017
The foundational support mechanism of Supporting Heroes is financial. Consistent with the theory of Abraham Maslow’s ‘Hierarchy of Needs,’ we recognize it is difficult for family members to heal while stressed by survival concerns – such as: “How am I going to feed my children;” “How am I going to keep our home;” etc. – and even such things as: “We don’t have suitable clothes for the funeral.”
By pooling resources in advance of tragedy, we are able to respond quickly whenever and wherever tragedy strikes and take such concerns away.
For more information regarding the specifics of how we financially support families, please see How We Serve.
We believe that ultimate sacrifice deserves ultimate honors. Recognizing how daunting and overwhelming the planning and coordination of a full-honors line-of-duty funeral can be, Supporting Heroes maintains well-trained, equipped and experienced memorial teams and makes them available to assist whenever and wherever needed. The teams train regularly in an effort to continually build expertise and further refine best-practices regarding all aspects of line-of-duty funeral planning and coordination.
Recognizing the complexity and natural intimidation of the federal benefits process, as well as the fact that no public safety leader should have to deal with it within his/her own agency so often that he/she becomes well-versed, Supporting Heroes leaders have striven to be and remain well-acquainted with PSOB provisions and regulations and the process for procuring benefits. Through training, the experience of assisting multiple families and agencies, and networking with knowledgeable experienced leaders around the country, Supporting Heroes personnel have become a valuable resource in this area.
Recognizing that travel to national memorial services can be very costly – with many survivors missing these services in the past due to financial reasons, Supporting Heroes covers travel and lodging expenses for immediate survivors (according to Supporting Heroes criteria) to travel to the following national memorial events:
Supporting Heroes also covers similar expenses when overnight travel is required to attend state memorial services.
There are other organizations within our service area that provide assistance as well. Those that do typically provide a limited amount per family and/or have stipulations that must be met in order to receive assistance. In those instances, we augment the support of the other groups. (Our support is only limited by relationship categories.)
Overall, our goal is to ensure that no immediate survivor misses when the nation honors his/her hero simply because he/she cannot afford to attend.
NOTE: A death must qualify as ‘line-of-duty’ pursuant to Supporting Heroes guidelines in order for travel assistance to be provided.
Following a felonious death, it is not uncommon for criminal proceedings to stretch across many years. It is also not uncommon for family members to relocate during that time or for there to be a change of venue for the proceedings. Recognizing the burden of travel costs and the stress of such proceedings, Supporting Heroes covers travel expenses for immediate survivors (according to Supporting Heroes criteria) to attend. Also, in special circumstances, stipends can be provided to offset loss of income due to time away from work.