Hope Station: A first responder’s haven

By Jennifer Halley

SHERWOOD, Ore. — Just west of Sherwood High School, there is a five-acre patch of land nestled in the trees. A creek runs through it like a vein, offering a quiet, gurgling lullaby.

Positioned away from the hustle and bustle of city traffic, this piece of property is the kind that might offer inhabitants respite from the demands of life, and this is where Chaplain Leo Keelan envisions Hope Station be built, a secluded refuge for first responders and their families. 

The space will be private, an area for individuals who have seen the worst of it to decompress in a space designed specifically for them. 

Keelan’s vision is as big as the five-acre sprawl of land. 

“We’re planning to have a labyrinth on it for prayer and meditation, trails to walk off into the trees, and make it a big, beautiful space," Keelan said. "We’ll have some animals at some point, a small archery spot, and different things to do for activities. We’ll have a couple buildings at the back end of the property that will have covering, which will be used for training and classroom sessions.”

He said several clinicians have already begun to express an interest in offering their services on the property. A company in California wants to help install a sensory room. 

“There’s a lot of exciting stuff happening, and a lot of potential," he said.

But in order for his vision to come to life, Keelan has to purchase the property first. 

“We talk about the piece of property almost as if we own it, so we can speak it into its existence, but we do not own it,” he said. “It's been on the market for over a year, and luckily, no one else has snatched it up. We're hoping that here in the next two to three months we’ll actually put the offer down.”

Once established, Hope Station will be a part of Hope Chaplain, which is a new 501(c)(3) Keelan founded a few months ago. 

“Its mission is to support first responders and the community through crisis, trauma, grief, and challenging situations,” Keelan said. “It will also provide other services, like funerals and weddings.”

Keelan has been a chaplain for five years with the Public Safety Chaplaincy (PSC), which serves first responders throughout Yamhill and Washington Counties, and Hope Chaplain will exist to do parallel projects alongside PSC. 

Chaplaincy is a volunteer-based position. The role, in its nature, is simple: hold the hand of or offer an ear to a first responder who is struggling under the weight of what their job entails. To be a chaplain requires a constant brush against life’s ugliness, and a commitment to being bright spot amidst it all. 

Keelan is no stranger to life’s ugliness. 

Twenty years ago, he received life-altering news: his then 20-month old daughter was given a 10% chance of survival alongside a Stage 4 cancer diagnosis. 

According to Keelan, the doctors told his family, “If you want to go home on hospice, it’s not a bad idea."

The somber advice left Keelan and his wife weighing difficult decisions no parent should ever have to make. 

Today, Keelan’s daughter is on track to become a nurse. 

“It was through our faith, and the doctors of course, and all of our friends and support that we got through that,” Keelan said. 

A year later, the family left raw and attempting to heal from the previous year’s hardships, another cancer diagnosis struck, this time latching itself onto Keelan’s wife. For four years, they battled together through cancer treatment, surgeries, and radiation, and, eventually, hospice, which is where his wife ultimately passed away. 

Using his journey of grief and loss is how Keelan pays it forward to those who are struggling to work through their own traumas. 

“I've seen firsthand the challenges that first responders and their families go through,” Keelan said. “Whether it's dispatch, fire, law enforcement, or Emergency Medical Services (EMS), all of them are running towards the danger, towards a crisis. There are a whole lot of things emotionally tied to those types of calls, and it's not like you can just switch it off after you leave that house or the resident, right? They carry that with them.”

Hope Station will be somewhere they can lay that burden down for a little while. 

The property itself is a gem in terms of what it can offer, but really, it’s the bridge spanning the creek that made Keelan say, “yes, this is where we should build.” To Keelan, this bridge symbolizes exactly what the project is all about: “Creating a pathway from heavy moments to renewed hope,” Keelan said. 

To get Hope Station to where Keelan envisions will require all hands on deck. 

“We imagine the property to be built by a lot of first responders volunteering their time and skills to help to build it up” Keelan said.

Fundraising efforts are under way, with $36,000 dollars raised so far of the one-hundred-and-forty-five-thousand dollar goal. In June, there was a Bunco Tournament at BearKat Brewing Company in Sherwood, and a Bingo Night at the Amity Fire Station.

Keelan may organize other events, but in the meantime, he’s accepting donations through his website at www.hopechaplain.com/hope-station.