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 on a daily basis; 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 together. “Foundation” meaning 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.

Foundation 1023 operates primarily across Colorado and Texas. Since receiving our non-profit status in June of 2016, we have served over 2200 First responders and provided over 6200 hours of mental wellness care. Foundation 1023 funding is generated from donations, fundraising events, and community partnerships. Our operation staff volunteers their time so more funding can go directly to services.