Putting First Responders First

Through public, business, and community donations, Foundation 1023 provides a positive mental wellness impact for first responders with confidential counseling, peer-to-peer training, and community awareness regarding the need for mental health support in the first responder community.

  • 3500+ First Responders & Families Impacted

  • 12500+ Total Hours of Services Provided

  • $1,675,500 Raised Since 2016

  • 73% of individuals requesting service reported PTSD symptoms

  • $1,085,000 Directly Back into Services

Our Story

In 2015 Colorado and Texas experienced a large number of First Responder deaths. These deaths were due to Illness, line-of-duty death, and self-infliction. We found in conversations with peers, and family that First Responders were doing an amazing job every day, taking care of total strangers but were doing a terrible job caring for themselves. While the average American may experience 1-2 traumatic events in a lifetime, our First Responders experience them daily; Bearing witness to unimaginable traumas, adverse living situations, dangers, and stresses. These events increase suicide rates, divorce rates, and substance misuse 3-5 times that of the normal population. The origin of our name stems from a couple of situations that blended. “Foundation” means load-bearing or underlying base. We want our partners and clients to know that we can be a solid footing or safe place for them to land. 1023 comes from 2 primary different places. 1023 was the badge number of one of the well-loved First responders that worked both in Colorado and Texas and perished in an Air-Medical incident on April 27th, 2015, and 10-23 in the old Police 10 codes means “arrived on the scene” or “safely arrived”. (1023 is also the IRS form one fills out to obtain non-profit status). Knowing that we were offering First Responders a solid safe place to land during a crisis then the name came together, and we launched forward from there.

Today we have over 90 therapists across Colorado, Texas and beyond. We have age specific therapists as well has those who offer secondary modalities such as EMDR, Brain spotting, Substance misuse and abuse and more.

Meet Our Execuitive Board

  • Melody Mesmer

    FOUNDER

    Lives outside Streetman Texas. Loves Paddleboarding, Volunteer Firefighting, her children, and her grand babies.

  • Scott Phillips

    Lives in Arvada, Colorado. Enjoys diving recreationally and professionally, golfing, and flying when he can.

  • Bill Dolan

    Lives in Pine, Colorado. Enjoys Florida Fishing, Sipping Mojitos, and listening to the Grateful Dead.

  • Troy Mesmer

    Lives outside Streetman Texas. Enjoys Sports, Cars, Shooting and Volunteer Firefighting

FAQs

  • We are here to help. To request services, use the form on the home page. Your request will be forwarded to a counselor and they will reach out directly.

  • Thank you so much for considering our organization. We could always use a hand! Head over to our support page and find out all the ways you can help Foundation 1023 with our mission!

  • Our support page details how you can help support Foundation 1023 with our mission. You can also put in a request to volunteer using this page.