Due to the overwhelming positive response and collective desire to support Home Front Chicago, we’ve teamed up to help make this program an ongoing initiative. As you may know, a few weeks ago the Chicago Police Department went into an operational posture where ALL days off were cancelled on short notice, and the men and women of the CPD worked 12 hour shifts for more than a week. This type of “operational tempo” is something generally only utilized in emergency situations (tornados, floods) and is unprecedented in CPD history. This schedule was implemented with minimum notice to the officers, and disrupted their normal family routines, ranging from normal household errands to childcare. We set up a social media page and over 1200 retirees and family members volunteered to help, doing everything from child and elder-care to shopping to doing errands to mowing the lawn and even walking dogs. Even though the first deployment came to an end, the Department has made it clear that this operational schedule will be implemented again over extended holidays and any upcoming major events.

So we want to be prepared to support our Blue Family again when it’s needed. We’ve seen ways to improve our efforts and we’ve implemented them so we’re ready for next time. We outgrew our original social media platform, and we partnered with Bank the Blue to develop a new, more responsive platform that respects the privacy of CPD Officers and families, as well as the Retirees and community members who are also supporting this program.

As retired members of the CPD, the Vigilant Strategies & Solutions team and Bank The Blue have joined forces to mobilize the CPD retiree family in Chicago along with other residents and businesses in an effort to come together and truly uplift and support our officers in these challenging times.

Please let us know how you may like to get involved.