$10,000+
What It Means to Be a "Peer" Level Supporter
At the $10,000 investment tier, a "Peer" Level Supporter serves as a vital bridge between community philanthropy, frontline clinical care, and administrative sustainability. Named in honor of the peer-led culture that defines the fire service, this contribution directly underwrites the confidential, zero-barrier care that allows active and retired FDNY members and their families to seek help on their own terms while providing essential stability to the team behind the scenes.
Direct Mission & Clinical Impact
65+ Free Individual Counseling Sessions: Fully funds over 66 one-on-one, HIPAA-compliant therapy sessions with culturally competent clinicians for active and retired firefighters, valued at a market rate of $150 per hour.
Aaron Clark Peer Support Team Operations: Underwrites specialized peer-led initiatives, including critical incident debriefs outside department oversight, substance abuse recovery coaching, suicide prevention training, and grief counseling.
Community Connection Pillars: Sustains monthly outreach traditions like our On the Arm Breakfasts and Firehouse Kitchen Talks, maintaining informal, low-pressure spaces for retired and active members to check in and process operational stress.
Alleviating the Administrative Mental Load & Supporting Firehouse Operations
Behind our clinical care is a small, lean administrative team working tirelessly to rebuild our operational foundation and manage a 35% year-over-year surge in service demand. A $10,000 commitment provides immediate operational relief by:
Stabilizing Daily Operating Overhead: Directly offsets essential facility maintenance, occupancy, and software infrastructure costs (such as SimplePractice, GiveButter, and ADP), freeing our lean staff from constant micro-fundraising friction.
Eliminating "Fire Drill" Financial Pressure: Replaces reactive budget triage with predictable operational runway, allowing leadership to focus on long-term strategic planning, policy rollouts, and record updates rather than crisis-driven funding gaps.
Protecting Team Continuity & Preventing Burnout: Reduces administrative strain so our leadership and administrative staff can maintain a calm, structured sanctuary, ensuring our clinicians remain supported and fully focused on client care.
Strategic Value to Our Operational Guardrails
Defends the "Free-First" Commitment: Directly protects our organizational commitment to keep more than 60% of all counseling services 100% free for active firefighters, removing financial barriers when care is needed most.
Fuels Sustainable Growth: Strengthens our non-governmental revenue base as we scale our operating budget toward $4M by 2028 to absorb expanding community demand.
Prevents Clinical Bottlenecks: Allows our clinical team to maintain standard 65–70% caseload utilization rates while reserving 10–15% capacity for acute crisis response without resorting to client waitlists
Donor Engagement & Recognition
Biannual impact updates detailing session metrics, peer outreach milestones, and program outcomes.
Formal acknowledgment in our Annual Impact Report and website donor portal.
Invitations to attend select community events, including our monthly breakfasts at headquarters and annual program briefings with our Executive Director, Aaron Clark Peer Support Team and Senior Clinicians.
$5,000+
What It Means to Be a "Friends" Level Supporter
As we ready our operational foundation at Friends of Firefighters for its next 25 years of service, our "Friends" level supporters donate a minimum of $5,000 and serve as the bedrock of our financial stability and our mission. Becoming a Friends-level supporter is more than making a donation; it is a commitment to ensuring that no firefighter or family member ever has to carry the weight of the job alone.
By committing at this tier, you directly protect our "free-first" promise that active FDNY members always have access to independent, confidential, and culturally competent mental health care at absolutely no cost. Your ongoing generosity provides the predictable, multi-year resources required to maintain continuity of care, eliminate waitlists, and retain our exceptional clinical team. To be a "Friend" is to be the engine behind our daily operations, safeguarding our sanctuary and empowering our first responder families to heal, build resilience, and thrive for decades to come.
<$5,000
Sustaining Community Partners: The Foundation of Our Mission
At Friends of Firefighters, we are profoundly grateful to our Sustaining Community Partners whose ongoing generosity directly powers our day-to-day operations. By helping cover our essential operating expenses, these dedicated allies ensure that our independent, confidential mental health and wellness services remain 100% free for active FDNY members and accessible to their families and retirees
How Sustaining Support Powers Our Impact
Protecting Our Free-First Promise: Operational funding directly offsets clinical overhead, maintaining a zero-barrier environment where active firefighters never face financial stress or departmental oversight to get help.
Ensuring Continuity of Care: Multi-year partnerships provide the financial predictability required to retain exceptional, culturally competent clinicians, prevent waitlists, and offer long-term stability for families in need.
Sustaining Daily Sanctuary: From individual therapy sessions and the Aaron Clark Peer Support Team to monthly breakfasts and wellness programs, sustaining partners serve as the engine behind our daily operations.
To our current sustaining partners: thank you for standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Friends of Firefighters to ensure no firefighter or family member ever carries the weight of the job alone.
Interested in becoming a Sustaining Community Partner? Contact Associate Director, Chrissy Neafsey, to explore multi-year partnership opportunities: chrissy.neafsey@friendsoffirefighters.org
