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Trooper helps homeless family through rough patch...
Trooper Helps Homeless Family in 'Limbo'
June 7, 2016 - Trooper Stephanie Bjorkman was tracking down witnesses when she encountered the young family at a rest stop and decided to help.
See also:
Last Known Living 9/11 Search Dog Dies
June 7, 2016 - Bretagne, the last known living 9/11 search dog, died Monday in the Houston suburb of Cypress.
Related:
Boy Running to Honor Fallen Virginia Trooper
June 7, 2016 - Braxton Lee, 6, who is running in honor of fallen state Trooper Chad Dermyer, will reach the end of his marathon distance at a race he is organizing.
Trooper Helps Homeless Family in 'Limbo'
June 7, 2016 - Trooper Stephanie Bjorkman was tracking down witnesses when she encountered the young family at a rest stop and decided to help.
Murray Duncan and his fiancée, Alyssa Dunn, thought they had their lives planned out when they moved here from Delaware last month. Dunn had a job lined up as a gate agent at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, and the couple had enough savings to live with their 6-month-old son in a hotel for about a month while they looked for an apartment. But after the transmission on their Hyundai Elantra blew out during the drive to Washington state, the couple found themselves broke and weeks away from Dunn’s first paycheck. After finding a Redmond church that offered overnight shelter, they decided to make an Interstate 5 rest area their home during the day, getting by on a patchwork of other social services.
It’s not uncommon for the region’s homeless residents to spend their days at highway rest areas, although state law limits visits to eight hours at a time, according to the Washington State Patrol. Trooper Stephanie Bjorkman was tracking down witnesses for an investigation at the SeaTac Rest Area along the freeway near Federal Way late last month when she encountered Duncan, 23, and his baby — new faces among the regulars. She decided to help the young family. “I see people who are in this permanent limbo phase because they’re not doing what they should be doing,” Bjorkman said. “(Duncan and Dunn) are in this limbo, but they’re trying to get out.”
Trooper Stephanie Bjorkman was tracking down witnesses when she encountered the young family at a rest stop and decided to help.
Bjorkman has helped the family get food, water and baby formula. She’s also provided Duncan and Dunn, 24, with information about free activity programs for kids so they can get the boy out of the car. Various churches and the Salvation Army provide the family with dinner Monday through Friday, but they have to find their own food on the weekends, so Bjorkman has been giving them restaurant gift cards. Bjorkman said once the family has proof of income with Dunn’s first paycheck in the coming days, they will be eligible for more state resources. But until then, Bjorkman has been taking it upon herself to help the family get food, water and baby formula. “Words can’t even explain,” Duncan said of Bjorkman’s help. “She’s definitely looked out for us, and we can’t thank her enough.”
Troopers are regularly called out to direct homeless people away from rest areas, though the homeless often return later. Bjorkman said she sees both sides of the issue. “DOT wants their rules enforced, but oftentimes (homeless people) have nowhere else to go,” she said. For now, Bjorkman continues to check in on the family, providing help when she can. Dunn said she and Duncan were recently accepted into the state’s Diversion Cash Assistance program, which will provide them with temporary aid for housing once they sign an apartment lease. The couple recently found an apartment, and they’re waiting to hear when they can move in. Duncan plans to start working once they get established.
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Last Known Living 9/11 Search Dog Dies
June 7, 2016 - Bretagne, the last known living 9/11 search dog, died Monday in the Houston suburb of Cypress.
The Golden Retriever was euthanized at the Fairfield Animal Hospital. She was 16. Bretagne, pronounced “Brittany,” became a full member of the Cy-Fair Volunteer Fire Department in 2000. She was a founding canine member of the K9 Search and Rescue Team and had a certification as a FEMA Disaster Search Dog, according to a statement from the fire department. When she was 2, Bretagne and handler Denise Corliss responded as part of Texas Task Force 1 to the World Trade Center site after the terrorist attack on Sept. 11, 2001. They spent 10 days at the scene searching for human remains in the rubble.
Bretagne the last surviving search and rescue dog from 9/11 is walked by her handler Denise Corliss past a flank of members of the Cy-Fair Volunteer Fire Department, as she was brought into the Fairfield Animal Hospital on Monday. (Karen Warren/Houston Chronicle via AP) She also responded to Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita, among other disasters, and had been retired from active duty for about five years, according to the fire department. After retiring, Bretagne helped train other search dogs and was a weekly visitor to Roberts Road Elementary School in Waller ISD where she would listen to first graders read with “a non-judgmental ear and soft paw,” the fire department said. She also visited students with special needs. “Her calm demeanor and warm heart helped the young and old through their own difficult moments,” the fire department said.
To the more than 400 members of the department, “Bretagne was a civil servant, a hero and is family,” the department said. At 15, Bretagne was taken by Corliss to the 9/11 memorial and participated in an interview with Tom Brokaw of NBC News. For her 16th birthday, dog website BarkPost threw a celebration for Bretagne in New York complete with a gourmet cheeseburger, toys and a billboard display in Times Square that said “NYC Welcomes You And Your Mom”, according to Us Weekly.
Bretagne experienced kidney failure and began slowing down in recent weeks. When she stopped eating for three days, Corliss knew it was time to say goodbye, Today reported. “She was really anxious last night and she just wanted to be with me,” Corliss told Today on Monday. “So I laid down with her, right next to her. When she could feel me, she could settle down and go to sleep. I slept with her like that all night.” Texas Task Force 1 remembered Bretagne on its Facebook page Monday. “Please remember the valiant effort and dedication to finding a victim trapped in a destroyed building that Bretagne showed us on a regular basis. She will be missed,” the post reads. “Strength and peace to her handler Denise Corliss.” As Corliss walked Bretagne into the vet Monday, fire department members flanked the two and saluted.
Last Known Living 9/11 Search Dog Dies in Texas | Officer.com
Related:
Boy Running to Honor Fallen Virginia Trooper
June 7, 2016 - Braxton Lee, 6, who is running in honor of fallen state Trooper Chad Dermyer, will reach the end of his marathon distance at a race he is organizing.
Braxton Lee of Gloucester set out just a month ago to run nine races -- seven 5K races and two 5-mile runs -- to raise money for the family of Dermyer, who was killed in Richmond in March. He is close to reaching that goal with just two more events left -- the last will be his very own 5K community run in Gloucester. Dermyer, 37, was shot to death during a training exercise at a Greyhound bus terminal in Richmond on March 31. His wife and two children live in Gloucester. "A bad man shot him," Braxton Lee said in May when he started his mission. "I know his family is sad and his kids are sad. I want to help them."
Braxton Lee, 6, who is running in honor of fallen state Trooper Chad Dermyer, will reach the end of his marathon distance at a race he is organizing.
Braxton learned about Dermyer after seeing his photo on a collection jar in a Chick-fil-A in Gloucester. He then decided to run a marathon distance in his honor asking people to donate to a special fund set up by the Virginia State Police for the family. When he's done he'll actually have completed 31.7 miles. Braxton has been recognized at several of the races he has participated in so far. According to his father, Jarret Lee, the Giving Garden Foundation gave him a special plaque at the group's 5K Glow Run. He was also recognized at the Yorktown Freedom Run 8K with a special medal and he finished in second in the 12 and younger male age group.
His eighth race will be this Saturday at the Run for the Bacon 5K in Williamsburg. The following weekend Braxton has organized his own 5K race in Gloucester with the help of Flatout Events in Newport News. "They have been so generous to not only donate the time but their contact and resources as well," Jarret Lee said.
Boy Running to Honor Fallen Virginia Trooper | Officer.com
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