SPONSORED SPECIAL SECTION FIRST RESPONDERS RESILIENCY
A rendering of the planned First Responders Resiliency Center near Cotati—a first-of-its-kind self-care sanctuary for first responders and their families.
And there’s a logic to their work: If stress is the No. 1 contributing factor to disease, and research shows it is, then it seems right that reducing stress is the No. 1 contributing factor to reducing disease. But confronting stress and trauma in emergency personnel who may be decades into their careers isn’t the endgame, emphasizes Farren. Equal effort must be put into educating those entering the industry. The “grand vision,” she says, is to change the culture for first responders—worldwide. “Never again do we allow them to go into the industry without them knowing the physiological effects of stress on and trauma on the human body.” Farren foresees resiliency training becoming a requirement for everyone entering the emergency response industry—so rookies come in eyes wide open about how their brains, bodies and nervous system will be affected by the work. Importantly, the information is backed by science-driven data, with the nonprofit working with such researchers as Dr. Torey Van Dyke at Loma Linda University, Dr. Gina Poe, director of brain research at UCLA, and neuroscientist Dr. Ryan D'arcy to provide cutting-edge technology to the first responder community. The centerpiece of the “grand vision” is an 18-acre parcel near Cotati that was once home to the Washoe Creek Golf Course. On former sand traps and putting greens will be the First Responders Resiliency Center, a self-care sanctuary for first responders and their families. The first of its kind, the center will be a wellness center offering myriad services available on a drop-in basis (including a long-awaited training center for conferences)—plus culturally competent therapists, a wellness program, resources and support for drug and alcohol addiction, an equine center, as well as a cancer research center dedicated to studying health afflictions specific to first responders. The program will stay on the cutting edge of techniques that can support clients’ nervous systems and health including art therapy, massage, cold plunges— anything that helps get the first responder physiologically out of fight or flight, says Farren. “This will be the mother ship of resiliency centers in the world.” The nonprofit purchased the land in 2021, after being outbid by multiple would-be buyers. (According to Farren, the property owner felt it was a moral imperative to sell to the First Responders Resiliency cause—and even covered the closing costs and co-signed the loan for the purchase.) The proposed First Responders Resiliency Center project is
weeks before retirement. None of this was a surprise to Farren, who estimates throughout her career she’s known more than a dozen close colleagues take their own life. Farren herself, gripped by depression following her cancer and divorce, harbored serious thoughts of suicide. It was following one severe mental health episode, which resulted in a four-month stint in an intensive outpatient program through Kaiser Permanente, when Farren had an epiphany. Playing on the adage that necessity is the mother of invention, Farren prefers a slight variation: Adversity is the mother of invention. “And out of that adversity I was given a vision to build a center for first responders to help them have a healing space that I could not find in my darkest moment.” After more than 30 years in emergency services, Farren found her second calling: Helping those who save others, to save themselves. With the consent of her children, Farren sold their family home for the seed money to launch First Responders Resiliency, Inc. She started small—a short presentation in September of 2017 on trauma and stress to the Sonoma Valley fire department staff. Then, three weeks after closing escrow on her home, the Tubbs Fire erupted, scorching tens of thousands of acres throughout Sonoma, Napa and Lake counties—more than 10,000 first responders from 17 states helped beat back the flames, which burned more than 5,600 structures and claimed 22 lives. By the time the fire was contained on Oct. 31, Farren was more determined than ever to realize her vision. By June of 2018, the nascent nonprofit held its first training for 40 attendees at Westerbeke Ranch in Sonoma. A grand vision Today, seven years since its debut at Westerbeke, First Responders Resiliency has become a team of more than 20 volunteers and staff run by career first responders—paramedics, police officers, firefighters, an emergency physician and former military special forces—and has held more than 230 trainings attended by more than 12,000 emergency personnel and their families (including two multi-year contracts with Cal Fire, as well as federal law enforcement in Washington, D.C.) The nonprofit’s tagline is: Putting PTSD Out of Business. While post-traumatic stress hasn’t filed for bankruptcy just yet, those kinds of event and attendance numbers mean it’s certainly on notice.
54 NorthBaybiz
December 2025
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