Today we’d like to introduce you to Melissa Lopez del Castillo.
Melissa, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
My story begins many years ago. I grew up always wanting to be a police officer, preferably a Detective. Then, September 11, 2001, happened, I can still remember every detail of that day from which class I was sitting in when the news first broke out, to being in another class watching the second tower get hit live on camera. Going home later that day, watching all the devastating news coverage including the victims shown on tv, hit hard, really hard. I couldn’t sleep for many nights to come. Fast forward to 2006, I walked into the USCG recruiters office to become a Reserve, at the same time I applied to be a dispatcher for a local 911 center. I’ll never forget the recruiter telling me, “I won’t chase after you, if you want this you’ll show it.” Well, I was offered the dispatching job prior and I couldn’t pass up the opportunity of having a really good career. About four years go by and I still had that strong feeling to serve for my country. I walked back into the USCG office and signed up to be stationed as a Reserve in Miami Beach for the next eight years.
During this time, I met an enormous amount of unbelievable veterans and other service members. While gaining a personal relationship with them, I began to notice the trend of emotional instability in these members. I became intrigued about the broken VA system, the large number of members who have PTSD and the help they weren’t getting which lead them into self-medicating. Finishing my Bachelors in Criminal Justice in 2013, I decided to continue my studies and over the summer awaiting acceptance into a program, I took a course on research methods, there I wrote a paper on Veterans who suffer from PTSD who self medicate. This opened my eyes further into the problems that exist even more today than back in 2013.
Moving forward to the end of 2018, my relationship ended with someone who was very important to me, he serves as a firefighter and I also believed suffered from a low scale of PTSD. Working with my INHC coach (which was featured on Voyage Miami, Angie Sanchez), I dug deeper into what my purpose was and in a light conversation, I mentioned how I wanted to start a non-profit ten years prior for Veterans with PTSD. No, this dream became bigger in nature by including all First Responders. See, in that relationship, I realized that not only do Veterans carry these burdens which are dragged into our personal lives, but also Police Officers, Fire Fighters and Dispatchers (the forgotten heroes are what we are known for at times). January began the process, May 18th was our launch party and now we are setting goals for the first year while becoming an official 501c3.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has been a learning process. You have to see and value it as a journey and no journey is linear. I have struggled with finding the strength within myself to achieve these goals. I have been turned down and laughed at, I’ve been told that this battle is a battle that has been long fought and no one wins. But I’ve also been told that I never stop until I get what I want. This is a quality I hold dear to my heart and embrace it every day, every step, along the way.
I’ve been blessed with amazing partnerships, friendships, and family who stand behind me in this journey.
Other struggles, I’ve faced are people don’t take this subject seriously until sometimes it happens to them. We lose First Responders to suicide more now than ever, in the last month NYPD has lost three of their members to suicide. A friend once said, whenever I felt like giving up, to say this out loud to myself “I’m not doing it for myself, I’m doing it for them.” I’m tired of losing brothers and sisters to depression and suicide.
My board members and I are very busy people outside of this organization, getting together have been a hurtle but one we’ve yet to overcome. And lastly, like any non-profit, most of this comes out of your own pocket. I work hard to find individuals that share the same sentiments and want to give, but again trust isn’t something that comes easy nowadays. With that, I’ve had to take a lot of time to research how to do things on my own with some guidance of others but I will say the process of becoming an official 501c3 isn’t the easiest.
Please tell us about Golden Pulse Foundation.
The best way I could start answering this question is by explaining our logo.
The first part, the star with the circle is representing all five military branches, this logo is a known symbol meaning “Oscar Mike” which means “On the Move.”
The second symbol most know as a police badge, and the third is the Maltese cross which is widely known as a symbol for Fire Fighters.
It all ties in together with a pulse, a pulse in which we all need to survive and we have, we want to keep that pulse alive.
The open heart symbolizes compassion.
The color represents “the thin gold line” which is for dispatchers as is the thin blue line for police officers, a thin red line for Firefighters, etc.
Our goal is to provide workshops to First Responders in how to cope after a traumatic event, most of us turn to go out without co-workers and talking it over a beer, that’s the worst thing you can do. Self-medicating with substance abuse is something we don’t want to teach, more like self-care in choosing better and healthier things for yourself like exercising.
Another goal is to provide guidance and assistance for family members who have lost a member to suicide or is currently in the process of having someone close to them who has turned to self-medicating.
Educating the public is our main goal, we need to talk about it more. It doesn’t make you less of a person to talk about your thoughts, it brings you closer to those who care.
I don’t believe we aren’t any different than the many other organizations I have come in connect with, we just have a different style. I have partnered up with HeadStrong Heroes Foundation, Never Walk Alone Miami and Team South Florida. Its all about being one family.
My team consists of a Licensed Mental Health Counselor (Carlos Escanilla, which was also mentioned on Voyage MIA), my sister and founder of Strike Force K9, Gloria L Vega and a local Fire Fighter by the name of Brain Bustillo.
What role has luck had in your life and business?
I believe in opportunity, we just need to be aware of it and take it. We can create our own luck by working hard at our dreams, making connections and really engaging in other peoples lives with compassion.
Contact Info:
- Email: goldenpulsefoundation@gmail.com
- Instagram: @goldenpulsefoundation
- Facebook: @goldenpulsefoundation
- Twitter: @Golden_Pulse
Image Credit:
Jeidy Marrone
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