Since 2019 · Dublin, Ohio
You are not alone.
Retreats for First Responders and the person who walks the journey alongside them. The weekend is clinician-led and grounded in peer support. Free to attend. Confidential. No uniform required.
Who has been in the room
Across 25 retreats held since January 2019, each person counted once, however many times they came. See the full record
About the Bridge
Nobody gets through a career of worst days by themselves.
First Responders’ Bridge supports active and retired first responders, and their families, after traumatic and life-altering events. We hold free, confidential retreats built on peer support: people who have carried the same weight, in a room where nothing has to be explained.
The weekend is clinician-led and grounded in peer support. It isn’t a therapy, counseling or treatment program. Ohio attendees are offered a limited number of free follow-up sessions afterward.
Law Enforcement, Fire, EMS, Dispatch, Corrections
All five branches, every retreat. Dispatchers and corrections officers are counted and welcomed, not an afterthought.
Free to attend
Lodging, meals, and materials are covered by donors and sponsors. A responder pays nothing.
Confidential
What’s said at a retreat stays at the retreat. We don’t contact your department, your leadership or your union.
Retreats
Three days, one weekend, and a room of people who already understand.
Retreats run Friday through Sunday at the Dublin Marriott in Dublin, Ohio. Responders and their significant others both register as attendees in their own right.
In his own words · 4:08
“Although you all have different problems, you’re all in this together. You absolutely see that you’re not alone.”
Rob Sagle
Columbus Division of Police, 20 years
An officer-involved shooting, a precinct colleague lost, and a friend killed in the line of duty. Rob talks about the years after, and what he found at The Bridge.
Sessions
Educational and informative sessions on trauma, stress, and the effect the job has on a family, led by people who have done the work.
Discussion groups
Small groups where each has a room of their own: responders with peer support and clinician leads, significant others with their own peers and access to the clinician leads.
Follow-up
Follow-up retreats, and a limited number of free counseling sessions for Ohio attendees who want to keep going.
December 11–13, 2026 · Fri–Sun
The Bridge Retreat
The last general retreat of 2026. Registration is open to first responders and their significant others.
October 11, 2027 · Columbus Day
Bridge Golf Outing
It sells out within an hour. Registration opens April 14, and the countdown is already running.
Significant others
They walk the journey alongside.
Significant others are strongly encouraged to come, but it isn’t required: First Responders are welcome on their own, too. The spouses, partners and support people who do come aren’t plus-ones. They register in their own right, they get their own sessions, and they get their own room of peers who know exactly what the job does to a household.
have attended so far
38% of everyone who has walked through the door since 2019.
A room of your own
While responders meet with peer support and clinician leads, significant others meet with other significant others: people who have lived the same shift schedule, the same silences, the same 3 a.m.
About · our board and team
A board and a team drawn from the professions we serve.
First Responders’ Bridge is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Our board and staff include working and retired responders, clinicians, and family members, and our finances are public.
Accountability
Rated 3 out of 4 stars by Charity Navigator. Candid Platinum Seal of Transparency. Form 990 filings for 2018 through 2025 are published in full. See every filing →
EIN
82-5475103. The Bridge Corp, doing business as First Responders’ Bridge.
Sponsors
A retreat costs money. Sponsors are why it does not cost a responder anything.
Businesses, unions, departments and families underwrite lodging, meals and materials so every seat stays free.
Platinum sponsors
Mount Carmel Health
American Electric Power
Coughlin Automotive
RKE Trucking Services
Bound Tree
Ohio Department of Public SafetyGold sponsors
Kokosing Construction
Bryant Heating & Cooling Systems
Central Ohio American Charities
The Christ Foundation
The Phoenix Project
Citywide Solutions
Fraternal Order of Eagles, Aerie #3614“This weekend saved my life because I was burned out and ready to check out from decades of carrying pain that had no place to go.”
Retreat attendee
Your gift is what makes the weekend free.
Nearly everything we spend goes to the retreats, and every Form 990 we’ve filed is public. Give once or give monthly, as yourself or as a company, and become a Bridge Builder. Gifts are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.
First Responders’ Bridge
752 N. State St #146
Westerville, Ohio 43082
614-271-4981
info@firstrespondersbridge.org
A 501(c)(3) nonprofit. EIN 82-5475103.
The organization
AboutRetreatsFamiliesEventsBoard & teamSponsorsWho we’ve served
Giving Tuesday · December 1, 2026Keep the next retreat free.Every retreat is free to the First Responders and partners who come, because someone else already paid for it. On Giving Tuesday, your gift does the same for whoever comes next.Matching gift: not confirmed yetGive on Giving TuesdayGifts are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.