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Seaborn Mitchell Cromer

By
Now Habersham
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Seaborn Mitchell Cromer, age 79 of Alto, passed away on Friday, December 10, 2021.

Born in Royston, Georgia on October 15, 1942, he was a son of the late Thomas Seaborn Cromer and Sara Amy Bond Cromer. Mr. Cromer proudly served his country in the United States Army and was a member of Level Grove Baptist Church. He retired from TenCate as a mechanic after 30 years of service. Mr. Cromer was a craftsman who loved to tinker and enjoyed fishing in his spare time. He was humorous, knowledgeable, and loved his family and spending time with them.

In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his brothers, William Cromer and Doyle Cromer; sisters, Faye Jenkins and Frances Carter.

Surviving are his wife of 55 years, Gloria Smith Cromer of Alto; son, Gary Mitchell Cromer of Alto; daughter, Sandy Cadman of Alto; grandchildren, Hunter Cadman and Chase Cromer; great grandchildren, Marlee and Blake; brothers, J.C. Cromer of Commerce and Carson Cromer of Martinsville, Virginia; numerous nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends.

The family will receive friends from 4-8 pm on Monday, December 13, 2021, at McGahee-Griffin and Stewart, with an informal memorial at 7 pm, in the Stateroom, with Rev. Douglas Duncan officiating.

An online guest register is available and may be viewed at www.mcgaheegriffinandstewart.com.

McGahee-Griffin & Stewart Funeral Home of Cornelia, Georgia (706/778-8668) is in charge of arrangements.

Athens Police arrest six known gang members

By
Now Habersham
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This week, the Athens-Clarke County Police Department’s Gang Unit, FBI Safe Streets Gang Task Force and the Northeast Georgia Regional Drug Task Force arrested six known gang members as part of an initiative to target criminal street gang activity.

The gang members arrested include Kendrick Jackson, 18, of Athens, Markeith Martin, 19, of Athens, Xavier Mitchell, 20, of Athens, Alijah Nelson, 18, of Athens, Trayvon Shields, 20, of Athens and Davion Mitchell, 19, of Athens.

During the arrests, four firearms and property from several recent burglaries were seized.

Jackson was charged with loitering and prowling and carrying a weapon without a license, Xavier Mitchell was charged with giving false information, Martin was charged with burglary, Nelson was arrested on an outstanding warrant out of Oglethorpe County, Shields was arrested for possession of marijuana and Davion Mitchell was arrested for carrying a weapon without a license.

At the time of his arrest, Xavier Mitchell was out on bond for violation of the Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act, possession of firearm during commission of a crime, possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, reckless conduct and theft by receiving stolen property.

At the time of Davion Mitchell’s arrest, he was out on bond for criminal trespass and carrying a weapon without a license.

“ACCPD is committed to protecting the community and will continue to focus efforts on violent criminal street gangs,” the police department said in a press release.

Baldwin to vote on alcohol ordinance amendments Monday

By
Hadley Cottingham
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(Hadley Cottingham/Now Habersham)

The City of Baldwin discussed amendments to their alcohol ordinance at their Dec. 9 work session. Much like other cities in Habersham County, the city is considering these amendments for the sale of packaged distilled spirits, which voters approved in November.

During November’s municipal elections, city voters throughout the county approved the sale of liquor within the city limits of Alto, Baldwin, Clarkesville and Cornelia. With Jan. 1 being the first day liquor sales can be allowed within these cities, local governments are working to update their alcohol ordinances to regulate future liquor stores. The cities cannot issue permits for liquor stores to open until amendments to their alcohol ordinances pass.

The City of Baldwin’s amendments to their alcohol ordinance allows for a total of three liquor stores within city limits. That number is dictated by population, according to the proposed amendments. Two would be allowed for the city regardless of population, with an additional store per 5,000 people. If Baldwin’s population grows an additional 5,000 citizens, another store would be permitted to open.

The proposed amendments also state that liquor stores must be at least 1,500 square feet with no maximum size. City Councilwoman Alice Venter said at their Thursday meeting that she believed the GA-365 area would be a good location for a liquor “superstore.”

“I’m not worried about a max [size],” Venter said. “If they want to put 10,000 square feet in . . . I think 365 is a good spot for something like that. It’s a good opportunity, especially with that volume of traffic that comes through there. I think that would be a great place.”

The license fee for a liquor store would be $4,000 annually, and if a liquor store decides to sell malt beverages such as beer and wine, they will also need to pay for a $500 malt beverage sales license and a $500 malt beverage retail license annually.

The city also plans to impose a $0.22 per-liter excise tax on distilled spirits.

Baldwin is expected to vote on their amendments to their alcohol ordinance at their Monday, Dec. 13 meeting, which is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. in the Baldwin Municipal Courtroom.

Baldwin Work Session recording

FDA authorizes COVID-19 pre-exposure prevention for certain individuals

By
Now Habersham
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The Food and Drug Administration has issued an emergency use authorization for the first injectable monoclonal antibody medication for pre-exposure prevention of COVID-19 for some adults and children 12 years and older.

The pre-exposure therapy, Evusheld by AstraZeneca, is authorized for those individuals who are not currently infected with the COVID-19 virus and who have not recently been exposed to an individual infected with COVID-19.

The authorization also requires that individuals either have moderate to severely compromised immune systems due to a medical condition or due to taking immunosuppressive medications or treatments, or have a history of having severe adverse reactions to a COVID-19 vaccine and/or component(s) of those vaccines.

“Vaccines have proven to be the best defense available against COVID-19,” said Patrizia Cavazzoni, M.D., director of the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research in a press release from the Georiga Department of Public Health. “However, there are certain immune-compromised individuals who may not mount an adequate immune response to COVID-19 vaccination, or those who have a history of severe adverse reactions to a COVID-19 vaccine and therefore cannot receive one and need an alternative prevention option. Today’s action authorizes the use of the combination of two monoclonal antibodies to reduce the risk of developing COVID-19 in these individuals.”

To learn more about the pre-exposure monoclonal antibody therapy, speak with your physician or visit the District 2 Public Health website.

Gas leak in Alto closes roads

By
Staff Report
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(Hadley Cottingham/Now Habersham)

A gas leak this afternoon temporarily closed several roads in the Alto area.

Habersham County Emergency Services responded to an active leak Thursday after a gas line was cut near the Alto Police Department and Gainesville Highway, officials say.

Gainesville Highway, Alto Street and Wheeler Circle were all shut down so the gas company could make repairs.

Gainesville Highway, Alto Street and Wheeler Circle are all shut down due to the gas leak. (Google/Google Maps)

 

State agency drops plan to limit at-home care for dozens of people with disabilities

By
Jill Nolin
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Callie Moore (right), who is 26 and lives in her own apartment in Athens, was one of 188 people in Georgia who would have been affected by a state proposal that has since been abandoned. (Riley Bunch/CNH)I

State agency officials have abandoned a controversial plan that would have limited at-home nursing care for about 200 people with disabilities, potentially upending life as they know it.

Under the proposed change, dozens of people who are receiving up to 24-hour care in their own or family home would have seen their aid limited to 16 hours. The state had pitched the plan to stretch existing dollars further to serve more of the 7,000 people on a waiting list.

The proposal, though, left the families of at least 188 people weighing whether to seek different living arrangements – such as moving their loved one in with three roommates and sharing support staff at a licensed provider home – or trying to come up with the money to make up the difference.

“There were some families and stakeholders that believed they were going to be impacted by the changes in the waiver, so there are no changes to the waiver, and those individuals and families will not be impacted,” Judy Fitzgerald, commissioner of the state Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities, told the agency’s board Thursday.

The announcement sparked cheers from advocates like Pam Walley, who is the quality and compliance director with Georgia Options, a service provider that focuses on supporting people with disabilities through non-congregant settings.

 Callie Moore (contributed photo) 

Walley is also the mother of 26-year-old Callie Moore, who lives in an Athens apartment with a roommate with whom she shares overnight staff support. Moore would have seen her around-the-clock nursing services reduced under the now-shelved plan.

Walley and others had pressed the state to find another way to serve more people on the waiting list.

“I am ecstatic to learn that people who need nursing services and additional staff supports will have the right to access these services while living in their own homes,” said Walley. “Self-advocates, families, and allies have worked very hard to make our concerns known to state leaders, and we weren’t always sure we were being heard.”

The change had been included in the state’s Comprehensive Supports Waiver (COMP) renewal through Medicaid, which is part of a program designed to help people with disabilities avoid institutionalization.

The cost to provide services for the 188 people who receive up to 24-hour care in their own or family home is about $22 million, with the federal government picking up a little more than half the cost.

It was never clear how many people could have potentially come off the waitlist as a result of the change. State lawmakers added about $2 million to this year’s budget with the intention of funding about 100 slots.

The state resubmitted its waiver plan last month without the cap on nursing hours because of a provision in the American Rescue Plan Act requiring states to maintain the existing level home and community based services.

But the change of plans also brings agency leaders back to square one with their efforts to reach more of the thousands of people with disabilities who are awaiting services.

Advocates and families have been asking the state to ramp up funding for waiver services. Challenges exist beyond funding, though. Providers, for example, have struggled to keep enough direct-support professionals on their payroll to carry out the services.

“Our goal with the proposed changes was to serve as many people as possible,” Fitzgerald said in a statement Thursday. “While we removed the proposed caps on skilled nursing and additional staffing hours from our waiver application, we are not abandoning our commitment to the 7,000 people who still wait to be served.”

State Sen. Sally Harrell, an Atlanta Democrat, is pushing a different approach: lobbying the governor to increase funding for services enough to knock out the waiting list over the next five years.

“The state has enough revenue to fund more waivers. They just haven’t had the political will to do it. So, setting the cap was not necessary. Taking from one group to serve another group was not necessary because the state has the money to serve both,” Harrell said Thursday.

Gov. Brian Kemp’s spokesperson, Katie Byrd, said Thursday the governor’s office is not yet ready to discuss budget items. The governor will formally unveil his spending plan next month when lawmakers return to Atlanta for the legislative session. As directed by the governor, Fitzgerald submitted a flat budget proposal for her agency.

State lawmakers have been funding about 100 to 250 waivers each year in recent years. But the push for more funding now comes as the state sees its coffers swell. Revenues for the year so far are up nearly 17% over last year, according to a report issued this week.

“We hope that the governor will use surplus funds to increase the number of waivers available to support individuals with developmental disabilities and their families,” said Eric Jacobson, executive director of the Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities. “In addition, we hope that the Governor will provide the funds to increase wages for direct support professionals.”

The jump in revenue means there will also be many other causes competing for a slice of the funding – even as politicians champion election-year pitches to cut taxes.

“You don’t cut taxes before you serve these people,” Harrell said. “Because this is something that’s part of basic governance.”

“People are afraid to make commitments that you have to keep year after year after year, which this would be one of them, because we don’t know what’s on the horizon in terms of the economy,” Harrell said. “But, to me, if we’re going to do it, then now’s the time.”

Pro Bowler, Super Bowl champ Demaryius Thomas dies at 33

By
Associated Press
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Denver Broncos wide receiver Demaryius Thomas reacts after making a catch during the first half of the team's NFL football game against the New York Giants on Oct. 15, 2017, in Denver. Thomas, who eared five straight Pro Bowls and a Super Bowl ring during a prolific receiving career spent mostly with the Broncos, has died at the age of 33. Thomas was found dead in his suburban Atlanta home Thursday night, Dec. 9, 2021, said Officer Tim Lupo, public information officer for the police department in Roswell, Ga. (AP Photo/Jack Dempsey, File)

Demaryius Thomas, who earned five straight Pro Bowl honors and a Super Bowl ring during a prolific receiving career spent mostly with the Denver Broncos, has died at the age of 33.

Thomas was found dead in his suburban Atlanta home Thursday night, said Officer Tim Lupo, public information officer for the police department in Roswell, Georgia.

“Preliminary information is that his death stems from a medical issue, and our investigators currently have no reason to believe otherwise,” Lupo said in a statement early Friday.

LaTonya Bonseigneur, a first cousin who grew up with Thomas and was so close they considered themselves siblings, told The Associated Press the family believes he died from a seizure.

Family members were notified by the Roswell police at about 9 p.m. EST that they had found Thomas in a shower at his home.

“He had been suffering from seizures for over a year, and we believe he had a seizure when he was showering,” Bonseigneur said early Friday. “We’re not sure when he died. We just spoke with him yesterday.”

She added, “He was alone and a friend couldn’t get hold of him, so he called his driver, who has a key because of these seizures, and he went into his home and found him in the shower.”

Thomas last played in the NFL in 2019, appearing in 11 games with 10 starts for the New York Jets. He officially announced his retirement this past June.

He will be remembered mostly for his eight-plus seasons with the Broncos.

“We are devastated and completely heartbroken,” the team said in a statement. “We were very much looking forward to celebrating Demaryius for years to come as one of the greatest players in franchise history.”

His contributions to the community went beyond the playing field, the team said, noting his work with the Broncos Boys and Girls Club, hospital visits, his annual football camp and “many other genuine interactions.”

“Demaryius’ humility, warmth, kindness and infectious smile will always be remembered by those who knew him and loved him,” the statement said. “We have lost an incredible player and a special person in Demaryius Thomas.”

While he put up huge numbers after the Broncos signed quarterback Peyton Manning in 2012, Thomas made his best-known catch the previous season, his second year in the league.

On the first play of overtime in an AFC wild-card playoff game, he broke free over the middle and hauled in an 80-yard touchdown from Tim Tebow to beat the Pittsburgh Steelers.

A native of Montrose, a tiny town in southeast Georgia, Thomas managed to make his mark collegiately as a receiver at Georgia Tech — even after the school hired Paul Johnson to replace Chan Gailey as coach.

Ditching Gailey’s pro-style offense, Johnson installed the run-oriented scheme that had been so successful for him at lower-division Georgia Southern.
Despite a huge drop-off in the number of passes the Yellow Jackets threw, Thomas was often left in single coverage and managed to show off the skills that would lead the Broncos to take him with the No. 22 overall pick in the 2010 draft.

Thomas finished his career at Georgia Tech with 120 receptions for 2,339 yards and 14 touchdowns in three seasons.

Teaming up with Manning, Thomas put up much gaudier numbers for the Broncos beginning with a dazzling 2012 season — 94 catches for 1,434 yards and 10 touchdowns — that led to the first of those five straight Pro Bowl selections.

He twice had more than 100 catches in a season, highlighted by career bests of 111 catches and 1,619 yards in 2014. He had five consecutive seasons with more than 1,000 yards receiving.

In Manning’s final year, the Broncos defeated Carolina in the Super Bowl to cap the 2015 season.

The Broncos also made the Super Bowl during the 2013 season, piling up the greatest offensive numbers in NFL history.

But they went down with a whimper in the title game, routed by the Seattle Seahawks 43-8 even though Thomas set a then-Super Bowl record with 13 receptions, totaling 118 yards.

“If we all played like he did, we’d have won,” Denver general manager John Elway moaned.

When the Broncos returned to the Super Bowl two years later, Thomas’ mother got a chance to watch him in person rather than on a prison television.
Nicknamed “Bay Bay” as a child after the animated movie “Bébé’s Kids,” Thomas was 11 when police burst into his home and arrested his mother, Katina Smith, and grandmother, Minnie Pearl Thomas, on drug charges.

Katina Smith was sentenced to 20 years in prison after refusing a lesser term in exchange for testifying against her mother, who wound up receiving a life sentence.

“I think that drives me more to know that they’re there and they’re watching me,” Thomas said before his first Super Bowl. “I try to go out there and play my best because they’re going to talk about it to the people in the jailhouse.”

Both women would be freed by President Barack Obama under an initiative to reduce the number of non-violent drug offenders doing time.

Smith was released in time to watch from the stands as her son won a championship. The first thing she asked him for after prison was a Sony Walkman.

“I don’t even know if you can find a Walkman right now,” Thomas told her.

He got her an iPhone instead. Before long, she was texting like a teenager and calling her son all the time.

One of Thomas’ teammates on the Super Bowl-winning team expressed shock at the news of his untimely death.

“Heartbroken,” former Broncos defensive star DeMarcus Ware wrote on Twitter, posting a picture of the two together.

Similar sentiments came in from current and former players around the league.

“RIP Young Legend,” Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson tweeted.

“I’m just shocked to hear that Demaryius Thomas has died,” former Broncos running back Terrell Davis wrote. “Gone way to soon.”

“My heart is hurting right now,” Broncos Hall of Famer Steve Atwater said. “We’ll never forget you my brother.”

After Manning’s retirement, Thomas’ production began to decline as the Broncos struggled to settle on their next quarterback.

Then, during the 2018 season, he was traded to the Houston Texans. He managed only 23 catches in seven games with his new team and was released after that brief tenure.

Thomas signed with the New England Patriots, but was cut before their opener. He finished up with the Jets.

In 143 career games, Thomas had 724 catches for 9,763 yards and 63 touchdowns.

Thomas was not married and had no children, according to Bonseigneur. After his mother went to prison, he lived with an uncle, James Brown.

Brown died on Nov. 15 of a heart attack at age 69. Thomas attended his funeral.

“Demaryius was a great guy,” Bonseigneur said. “He came from humble beginnings. He knew God. He was raised in the church and by a close-knit family. Even though he rose to stardom, to us he was just a kid from Montrose. We never fathomed he would go on to do all these amazing things. He was just a kid who loved playing football.”

This article appears on Now Habersham through a news partnership with GPB News.

Judge rejects motions to dismiss lawsuits challenging Georgia voting law

By
Stanley Dunlap
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U.S. District Judge J.P. Boulee ruled that he needs to hear more facts in eight lawsuits challenging Georgia’s voting law. The judge on Thursday rejected the state’s motions to dismiss the claims. John McCosh/Georgia Recorder (file photo)

(GA Recorder) — Eight federal lawsuits challenging Georgia’s voting law remain alive after a judge rejected motions to dismiss them Thursday.

Civil rights organizations applauded U.S. District Court Judge J.P. Boulee’s decision to move ahead with the complaints that argue new absentee ballot ID requirements, provisional ballot restrictions, absentee drop box limitations and other provisions are forms of voter suppression targeting Black people and other marginalized groups.

The lawsuits were filed after the spring passage of Senate Bill 202, a sweeping overhaul of Georgia’s election law that Republican officials have defended against accusations of discrimination and that it was a rushed response to the GOP suffering high-profile losses in the presidential and U.S. Senate elections.

The majority of those suits filed in the Atlanta-based district court argue that the law violates Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination based on race, color or language.

Boulee, who was nominated by former President Donald Trump, dismissed the state’s request to toss out the lawsuits based on arguments from the defendants that plaintiffs have not suffered harm or have any right to sue, with the judge saying he needs to hear the facts of each case before making any rulings.

One of the eight lawsuits that moves forward is led by the ACLU of Georgia, the Georgia NAACP, and Southern Poverty Law Center on behalf of the Sixth District of the African Methodist Episcopal Church and other groups.

“The court rejected every single one of the defendants’ arguments to dismiss our lawsuit,” said Rahul Garabadu, voting rights staff attorney for the ACLU of Georgia. “Georgia’s anti-voter law makes it harder to vote for Georgia’s citizens of color and citizens with disabilities, and we look forward to continue to fight this law in court.”

Legal experts have predicted that the majority of these election lawsuits face a tough road after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last year placed a significantly higher burden on proving discrimination under Section 2 of the VRA.

Gov. Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger have said they are confident the state will prevail against the claims highlighted by a U.S. Department of Justice suit over voting rights.

GOP backers say the law makes it easier to vote and harder to cheat through changes requiring ID, restricting the number of absentee drop boxes and making them available during early voting hours, and mandating that every county provide Sunday voting.

Boulee wrote in a filing on the New Georgia Project v. Raffensperger case on Thursday that he needs more information from both parties about a provision that prohibits distributing food and beverages to voters standing in lines at polling places.

Boulee said that the state has not provided “support for their contention that such activities can be restricted simply because they occur near a polling place.”

“At the motion to dismiss stage, the court does not have the benefit of sufficient facts to properly assess the specific context of plaintiffs’ allegations,” Boulee said.

Nicholas Nuziato Romano

By
Now Habersham
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Mr. Nicholas Nuziato Romano, age 67 of Cleveland, passed away on Monday, December 6, 2021, at Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville.

Memorial services will be held at 11:00 A.M. Saturday, December 18, 2021, at The River Church in Alto, Georgia. Rev. Jeryle Roach will officiate.

Mr. Romano was born December 15, 1953, to the late Nicholas & Mary Romano in Brooklyn, New York. He was a veteran of the United States Navy and worked as a registered nurse. He was a member of The River Church.

He is survived by his wife, Cheryl Romano; son, Nicholas Romano; step-sons, Jason Purcell and Adam Purcell; daughter, Shannon Romano; step-daughter, Kim Dimmick; 6 grandchildren; and 1 great-grandchild.

Memorial Park South Funeral Home, 4121 Falcon Parkway, Flowery Branch, Georgia 30542 is in charge of arrangements.

Send online condolences to www.memorialparkfuneralhomes.com.

Cleveland man convicted of child molestation

By
Trent Crawford
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A Cleveland man arrested earlier this year on charges of aggravated sexual battery and child molestation has been convicted and sentenced for the crime in Hall County Superior Court.

Hall County Sheriff’s deputies arrested Charles Daniel Gee in January for the sexual molestation of a 9-year-old child between August 21 and August 22, 2020, at a home in the 3000 block of Ga. 369/Browns Bridge Road.

Charles Gee, now 30 years old, was convicted Wednesday by a jury of seven women and five men after the panel spent just 15 minutes deliberating the evidence.

Hall County District Attorney Lee Darragh said that presiding Judge Jason Deal sentenced Gee to a life sentence with 28 years to serve on a charge of aggravated sexual battery and 20 years with 15 to serve on a charge of child molestation. Darragh said those sentences will be served concurrently.

At the time of the arrest, authorities said Gee was acquainted with the female victim.

Elizabeth Miller Turner Woods Waldrep

By
Now Habersham
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Elizabeth Miller Turner Woods Waldrep, age 79, of Demorest, Georgia, died Wednesday, December 8, 2021.

Memorial graveside services will be announced at a later date.

Arrangements are entrusted to the Whitfield Funeral Home and Crematory, North Chapel, 245 Central Avenue, Demorest, Georgia 30535. Phone number 706-778-1700

Peer counseling offers help for the helpers

By
Hadley Cottingham
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Peer Counselor Keegan Merritt talks to the certification class about trauma. (Hadley Cottingham/Now Habersham)

First responders and public safety officials from all over the state have spent the past week at the Habersham County Aquatic Center receiving their Peer Counseling Certification, a state-funded program to help first responders process traumatic events and gain access to mental health services.

“Habersham County Emergency Services, Sheriff’s Department and E-911 are honored to host the Georgia Peer Counseling Certification Class for the North Georgia area this week,” Habersham Emergency Services Director Chad Black said. “While Public Safety personnel are the ones who respond when others are in need, our own sometimes need help. What they see, experience and witness can put unbelievable strain and stress on anyone that is human, and now, we have ways for not only recognizing this but providing the necessary help to our personnel.”

Black has worked with public safety support groups like the Southern Outreach Support for Public Safety and S.O.S for Public Safety for nearly 2 years. He says he has “a huge affinity” for programs like peer counseling, and wanted to make sure Habersham County was a sponsor for North Georgia’s peer counseling program.

Firefighters, E-911 operators and police officers from Habersham County, Gainesville, Cartersville, Gwinnett County, Georgia Tech, Georgia State Patrol, Dillard, Union City, Morgan County, Coweta County, Forsyth County and Lumpkin County attended the training.

Fire and EMS Peer Counselor Shane Smith discusses talking points for peer counselors after responding to upsetting incidents. (Hadley Cottingham/Now Habersham)

“We [first responders] are two to three times more likely to use drugs and alcohol, and we’re also two or three times more likely to commit suicide than the general population,” Fire and EMS Peer Counselor Shane Smith says. “It’s because we don’t talk. We’re the helpers, we never think we need help and we don’t want to tell [anyone] when we do.”

Smith says he became involved in the program when he learned how high suicide, drug and alcohol abuse rates are for firefighters due to repressed trauma, and he wanted to make sure that none of his fellow first responders were suffering in silence.

“If we can go out and help complete strangers we don’t even know, why can’t we help our fellow brothers and sisters?” Smith asks.

Therapy dog Garth offers some love to a first responder as the class goes over a situation in which an officer stopped a citizen from completing a suicide attempt. (Hadley Cottingham/Now Habersham)

The class certifies first responders in “Peer Counseling,” which helps first responders support other first responders following critical incidents and traumatic experiences. The program also helps first responders get in touch with important state-funded public safety mental health resources, like counselors and other mental health professionals, through the Office of Public Safety Support.

Therapy dogs Garth (left) and Barron (right) had become good friends over the course of the peer counseling training, and when they weren’t offering support to first responders, played and napped together. (Hadley Cottingham/Now Habersham)

Because of the nature of some of the discussions and lessons in the class, traumatizing experiences first responders have experienced can surface during the certification course. That’s why mental health professionals, trained peer counselors and therapy dogs have been available to the public safety officials taking the class.

“We can run call after call and nothing ever bothers us, but for whatever reason, something happens, and when it does, that’s when we start spiraling,” Smith says. “We hold it together well in front of our crews, but . . . what they [show] on the outside might not be what’s going on inside.”

Smith encourages first responders to open up to one another and reach out for help when they need it. He also encourages family members of first responders to keep an eye out for signs of distress, like acting out of character, dependency on alcohol or drugs or zoning out when coming home from work. If you notice something is wrong, reach out.

If you or someone you know works in public safety and needs to talk to a peer counselor, call (404) 624-6077 to be connected with one.

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