Our Mission

The challenges of a First Responder has long-term and severe mental and emotional repercussions. Mental disorders such as PTSD in first responders influence violent outbursts, anger management levels, alcohol abuse, and high levels of distress. For the families of first responders, this can be confronting, scary, and can sometimes result in a stress disorder diagnosis, or other mental disorders/illnesses. Secondary trauma developed from exposure to the hardships of the job and the challenges that come from the everyday life of a First Responder. The everyday trauma of the First Responder lifestyle and the hardships and challenges that coincide can foster secondary trauma in loved ones and family.  

The Poppy Project is dedicated to providing unwavering support and empowerment to the families of First Responders (inclusive of our police officers, paramedics, and fire—fighters). Our mission is to advocate for the mental health support of not only our First Responders, but also their partners and children. We want to create a space for those who experience the hardships related to the trauma that is a subsidiary of the selfless work of a first responder.

We are dedicated to establishing robust support systems across Australia. Our commitment lies in fostering communities, delivering interpersonal support, and cultivating open communication channels to enhance overall wellbeing and encourage emotional resilience.

We are emploring our government entities and state organisations to open these spaces for First Responder families and start providing the much needed support that our state funded organisations refuse to address. There is a current mental health crisis among our First Responders all across Australia, and it seems that our respective organisations are refusing to take action to make change in their mental health sectors.

The Poppy Project aims to be a beacon of support and strives to create awareness to the challenges that first responder families face in everyday life.