First responders are at higher risk of suicide than the general population, and U.S. Rep. Eric Sorensen (Illinois 17), a union representing correctional officers and law enforcement, and Gray Matters Collective met on Thursday, April 2 with local first responders to discuss how they can best support access to high-quality, affordable mental healthcare.
The 90-minute roundtable discussion at Moline’s Axis Hotel included:
- Jon Zumkehr, president of American Federation of Government Employees 4070, union at the federal prison in Thomson.
- Jason Anderson, AFGE National Vice President, District 7 (representing Illinois, Wisconsin and Michigan).
- Haley DeGreve, founder and CEO of the Gray Matters Collective.
- Michelle Schwarz, widow of Thomson Corrections Officer Blake Schwarz, who took his own life in 2023 at age 26.
- Representatives of Rock Island Police, Illinois Fraternal Order of Police, Quad Cities Airport, Moline Fire, and Rock Island County Sheriff’s Department.
One main topic was introducing a “Safe Harbor” bill in Congress, to allow first responders to come forward early on in mental health struggles, and ensure they don't lose their job if they recover.
“That way we get people to talk about suicide early on and then come forward and ask for support,” Zumkehr said after the meeting. “Right now, the state of Illinois, if a staff member comes forward and says I'm going to take my own life, they have a potential of losing their job. And that is what we want to address is if they can recover from that, they won't lose their job.”
Zumkehr is also working with Illinois U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth’s office to have a bill named for Blake Schwarz (already proposed but hasn’t passed the House) introduced in the Senate.
The proposed bill in Congress, to increase mental health support for correctional officers (including $300 million over five years), is H.R. 2305, the Corrections Officer Blake Schwarz Suicide Prevention Act, and the Fraternal Order of Police has written to members of Congress urging its passage.
That funding would go to the Bureau of Prisons, states, and local governments to carry out mental health screenings and provide referrals to mental health care providers for certain corrections officers.
At Thursday’s roundtable, it was “good to hear from different departments, because every department has different issues, but it's the same issue at the end -- as how do we deal with staff that are struggling,” Zumkehr said. “It was good to hear from everybody and listen to their point of view and how they deal with different issues. But mental health is a major issue, and it's not something that's just going away and it needs to be addressed. And what resources are available in the community.”
“What we say all the time is you don't want to learn about suicide from suicide itself,” he said. “And I'm making sure that we don't have that happen again. And we're doing everything possible to make sure that it doesn't happen again.”
He was part of a Gray Matters support group for first responders that met monthly for about six months, but hasn’t in the past two months because of lack of interest.
“That was an issue we brought to the chiefs, to the fire, to the airport, to everybody here is like, hey, we have this group available through the Gray Matters Collective. It's for all first responders,” Zumkehr said of resurrecting that group. “It’s a good resource and today having the Gray Matters perspective here was to let people know what resources are available in the Quad Cities.”
“We stopped meeting because we weren't having anyone coming,” DeGreve of Gray Matters said Thursday. “And we had reached out to local fire and police departments. But what's hard about the nature of this job is there are people maybe that need it, but are on third shift. And so they can't, or second shift. They can't come to the time that we have.”
“But we have counselors that we are working with that are telling us we would go to the police departments, we would go to the fire departments. It's really just we need the departments to work with us now, because some departments are on board, but not all, which is tough,” she said.
As for the Thursday discussion, “I think this group today was extremely important,” DeGreve said, supporting the Safe Harbor bill. “Understanding that if someone is going through a situational suicide crisis, that they can have the time that they need to heal, but then they can, after they heal, if a psychologist evaluates them and feels like they're okay to return, that they could return. And we've seen success stories of this happening in other places of the world.”
“Unfortunately, there are still some departments that, their first response is, well, we have to let that person code because they're no longer fit for duty. They can't have a gun. And so there's a lot of layers to this, but we have to make sure that people that are struggling are protected.”
DeGreve appreciates Sorensen’s support, since suicide prevention is truly nonpartisan. Suicide claimed 49,316 American lives in 2023.
“I think that we need really everyone on both sides, both parties to get on board with this because mental health affects everyone,” she said. “It doesn't matter who you vote for. Mental health affects everyone. And if we can all get on board with that, we should.
“Because knowing that suicide's the most preventable cause of death and it is the leading taker of our young people and first responders,” DeGreve said. “This should be something that we are talking about. And that was really what was the point of today was to talk about this bill, but to also hear from first responders in our own community what are the challenges and what are some solutions. So we did talk through some solutions and what maybe that could look like, but really today was about listening to them and what their issues and their challenges are.”
Some departments are very supportive (like in Moline and Rock Island), but that has to become standard, she noted.
Need to change culture
“I think we need to change the culture around this in every department. You know, obviously it's going to look different, but if we have some sort of mandated guidance, then we have accountability,” DeGreve said. “And for those departments that don't have a culture of care, we need to have accountability.”
The Rock Island police chief shared that he found his own funding for his employees, to implement a wellness program for his employees, “which was huge,” she said. “I think it's really about the leadership of care. But also we talked about today, the legacy as well, because just because the chief cares right now, maybe the next chief won't.
“And so that's where I think this accountability and having these federal mandates can be helpful is to ensure that everyone across the board is receiving the same type of care and that they have the same protections as well,” DeGreve said.
She also continues to work with the Illinois and Iowa transportation departments for suicide prevention measures on the I-74 and Centennial bridges. DeGreve has urged installation of a barrier net along the 74 bridge to stop suicide attempts, but that is a big challenge, she said.
“So we're looking at what can we do right now. So I think what we've been talking about mainly is signage. Can we get a phone that can connect straight to 988?” she said of the free 24/7 suicide prevention lifeline. “I will say I've been very impressed with Iowa DOT and how they have handled this very carefully. They want to do it right.
“They want to make sure that the engineering of the bridge and the safety of the bridge remains the same. But I do feel like they're listening and I do feel like they're taking it seriously,” DeGreve said.
On Jan. 20, 2026, Blackhawk Fire Protection District firefighter Ali Jasim jumped from the I-74 Bridge into the icy waters of the Mississippi River, ending his young life.
Soon after, DeGreve posted a petition on Change.org (the goal is 10,000 signatures) calling on Illinois and Iowa leaders to install suicide prevention barriers, including a net along the entire 3,400-foot length of the bridge between Moline and Bettendorf. The petition had 4,155 signatures as of April 2.
“Today was important because this is something that we need to talk about,” Sorensen said Thursday. “And I don't think that they're, maybe myself included, we don't really understand all of the things that our law enforcement and our first responders have to carry with them, all of the pieces of trauma that are connected to their jobs.
“We need to make sure that they have the ability to get that mental health care when they need it,” she said. “To not go to the end of the rope where they're in a crisis. And so I think what we did today is we identified ways that we can move forward to be able to support first responders in such a way that they're going to be allowed to get the treatment and then come back to their jobs.
“Because a lot of folks, when they are identified as having a mental health care challenge, their service weapon is taken and then their job is next,” Sorensen said. “And so that's the reason why there is the stigma of, I'm not gonna bring this up because I need my job. We need to get rid of that. We need to make sure that people are able to be connected to mental health care and their well-being, but they are also supported.
A reason to care
“And that was one of the key takeaways that I had today is there is a reason for us to fight for this, there's a reason for us to care,” he said. “Because it's not just about saying, oh, nobody's doing anything for mental health. No, we are, we will, and we're not going to stop.”
Suicide prevention needs to be discussed for all people, Sorensen said.
“Let's normalize it because it's not just for one group of people. It's not just for first responders,” he said. “We all need to talk about it, but then we also need to make sure that we're going to connect people to their well-being.”
“I have had conversations with constituents in the past two weeks. I was talking to a person who survived a suicide attempt and she said, Congressman, you need to do more,” Sorensen said, noting he recently met with the head of the Illinois DOT to urge protection measures on the I-74 bridge.
“We know that that's a place where it happens, where people lose the grasp of the end of their rope,” he said. “Maybe it's not just a sign for 988. Maybe it is a call box. Maybe it is something more. Maybe we see what we can do on the Centennial Bridge and on a re-envisioned brand new I-80 bridge.”
“It was incredible,” Michelle Schwarz said of Thursday’s meeting. “I had no idea what to expect. And I was like, oh my gosh, this is way bigger than I thought. But it was really cool to hear everyone's perspective and different everyone is in the different struggles that they have with mental health. And I mean, the blanket statement though is everyone sees traumatic events and we’ve got to do something about it.”
“It was actually kind of scary to listen to,” she said. “It brought me back for sure. Kind of had a little bit of grief because I was hearing one of the Department of Corrections facilitators, and he was saying how basically they're scared to say anything.
“They're scared that they're going to lose their job, they're going to lose their career, they're going to lose everything,” Schwarz said. “And that was exactly what happened with Blake, is he was so scared to say that he was struggling and he didn't know where to turn to. Because he didn't want to lose his entire career, his livelihood, everything that he worked so hard for. And that's a huge issue in corrections.
“So it was very sad, but also, like, heartwarming to hear that it's still a struggle for other officers and that he wasn't the only one that struggled with that,” she said. “But I pray that there is a change soon.”
The Gray Matters logo backdrop includes the phrase, “You Are Not Alone,” but Blake did feel alone, Michelle said.
“I feel like he absolutely felt alone because that entire stigma within the prison was, you know, that's just part of the job,” she said. “You deal with it and you go to work the next day and you better not be soft. So he absolutely probably felt alone. He probably felt like he was weak because he's not really feeling like his friends, are they really going through what I'm going through or is it just me?
Fear of using an EAP
“And they don't have that safe place to talk and say, like, I'm really struggling or that traumatic event, like, I need some time to heal from that,” Schwarz said, noting Department of Corrections (like many employers) has an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) for mental health.
“Unfortunately, the officers are scared to use it because they are scared of retribution,” she said. “I remember Blake telling me that specifically. He’s like, I'm not going to use that. He's like, they track that. He's like, they're going to know that I'm struggling. He's like, I don't want that. And he honestly didn't think that it was going to help either. So, again, that stigma.”
“Because especially in corrections, you will get everything taken away from you if they don't feel like you're fit for the job,” Schwarz said. “I mean, we're humans. How do you not become scarred from the things that you see? I mean, that's what happens in this job, unfortunately. You see things that no human should have to experience. So you're gonna have a time in your life where you struggle, and they should support that, not prevent them from reporting it.”
Getting a “Safe Harbor” bill passed would be “amazing,” she said.
“I think it's going to take time for officers to trust it, but once they start seeing people utilizing it, if we can get this passed, I think it's going to make a huge difference for officers to feel like, all right, maybe I'm struggling, maybe I can come forward and go and take time to heal and come back better,” Schwarz said.
She had met Sorensen in D.C. when she visited Congressional offices in February 2025.
“So it was really nice to see him again, and it's nice to get to have his support on things and see that he really cares,” Schwarz said Thursday.
Offering dogs for comfort, therapy
Michelle and one of Blake’s best friends, Daniel Sward, started the nonprofit Paws for the Powerless on the first anniversary of Blake’s death, March 24, 2024. They match dogs with a licensed counselor, and Michelle’s dogs have been a great comfort to her and her daughter Blair.
A key phrase that resonated with Blake was “Protect the powerless,” reflecting his commitment to advocating for individuals facing mental health challenges and offering support to those in need, the group website says, noting Paws for the Powerless will choose a person to become the handler of a trained therapy dog after they complete their training and certification.
“This partnership will allow the therapy dog to provide comfort and support to those who are struggling. Paws for the Powerless focuses on raising awareness about suicide and mental health issues,” the site says. “We offer fully trained and certified therapy dogs to individuals seeking hope and assistance during difficult times. Our mission is to create a supportive environment for those who may feel powerless.”
They celebrated their anniversary with a “Paws ‘n’ Pearls” fundraiser on March 27, 2026 at McCormick Event Center in Rock Falls, Ill. It raised $27,000 to acquire and train more dogs, and cover pet food and vet bills, Michelle said.
"I was like, I just hope people come in the door. I was not even expecting anything. I just want people to have a good time," she said Thursday. "We sold out our tickets and went even above that and it was crazy. It was amazing."
The first two therapy dogs have been placed at schools in Morrison and Milledgeville and she plans to have one for a law enforcement agency.
“That's my next goal is like, either have one place like within a law enforcement facility, so like police station, anything like that to give them comfort,” Schwarz said. “Hearing one of the police chiefs say that they have comfort dogs, and they said it really boosts morale there. And so I would love to do that for them.”
If you or a loved one is having suicidal thoughts, you can get help by calling the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. All calls are confidential.
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