by Fred Hernandez

Colorado Springs, Colorado

It was an extensive training program that covered two weekends of class room and hands-on exercises. Two consecutive Friday evenings and two consecutive Saturdays for a total of 19 hours. All training was held at the Colorado Springs Police Training Academy. Offered by the top-level law enforcement officers and Police Chaplains with decades of experience; members of the Rocky Mountain Police Chaplains (RMPC), the overall goal is to build trusting relationships with all members of the agency, or agencies, they serve.
Here in our county, a resident of Silver Cliff who is a retired first responder with over thirty years experience in a mega-city of multi millions in population, felt a calling to establish a chaplaincy to support those who work for the various agencies that daily serve and protect our communities. After extensive training, Eric Foster formed what is now the Custer County Core of Chaplains. Through his tireless efforts, the group of chaplains received world class training in Crisis Response offered by K-Love, a national Christian radio network with almost one thousand stations throughout the country.
The twenty-eight-hour training over a period of three days in August this year gained for the attendees a certification in Critical Incident Stress Intervention.
Once again, through his persistence and tireless efforts, Head Chaplain Foster succeeded in receiving an invitation to a professional training session offered through the RMPC by the Colorado Springs Police Department at their Training Academy in Colorado Springs. With the invaluable knowledge acquired during this training period the Custer County Core of Chaplains joins the ranks of qualified chaplains who render service and support to their communities nationwide. For Custer County’s first responders including the Sheriff’s Office, the fire district, EMS, Search and Rescue and others (even the general public) who may need and want the professional intervention the Chaplains can provide all that is needed is to ask. Call Chaplains Office 719-783-2270 or email: custercountychaplain@gmail.com.