Last week, Heroes In Blue, the nonprofit organization I founded, expanded its vision to focus more fully on police and community partnerships that drive improvements in well-being and community resilience. Along with it, we changed the name – we are now called Serve & Connect. This shift reflects something I have learned over the past two-and-a-half years – that when we work together, we change lives.

When my husband, Officer Gregory Alia with the Forest Acres Police Department, was killed in the line of duty on September 30, 2015, I was significantly impacted by the divisiveness between police and the communities they serve. Within hours of his death, I began taking action to fight this divisiveness. I proposed #HeroesInBlue as a way to combat the negative focus on law enforcement and to raise awareness of the positive interactions that happen every day and often go unnoticed.

I knew early on that we needed to do more than celebrate positive stories if we wanted to fight the divisiveness that covers our country. However, it wasn’t until the sentencing for Jarvis Hall, the man who killed my husband, that I realized that the key to combating divisiveness was through coming together to help people who are in need. There are so many in our community – police officer and citizen alike – who are called to serve others. What if we spent more time working together to build safer communities? Could we prevent more pain from happening to others? Could we change lives?

Watch the Serve & Connect Story on YouTube.

I have seen first-hand that this is not just an idealistic dream, but something that we have the power to create. That is why on Monday I announced our name change at Richland Mall – where my husband was killed – as a reminder of our tremendous capacity for connection. Our work is founded in the tragic reality of grief, yet we never lost hope for a world where we work together to improve lives for all people. This is work happening here, in our community. It is driven by our hearts and our voices. The power for change resides inside each of our hearts. We are each the light in the darkness if we choose to be.

I invite you to join us in our journey for change. You can learn more here.

✔It’s about empowerment.

✔It’s about trust.

✔It’s about impact.

It’s about time.