We recently connected with Kristin Marie Johnson and have shared our conversation below.
Kristin Marie, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. How did you come up with the idea for your business?
The idea for ORA came up after a year and a half of working for another organization. It seemed as though disappointment was becoming increasingly common for those we were working with and hearing feedback from. That’s not to say a few people that are unhappy means there is need for a new venture, but it was something to be considered. I met with a few people in the community from various organizations and career paths. I spoke to individuals from other states and how they viewed this issue. I didn’t want to be just another pop-up nonprofit that spins its wheels because we are a cookie cutter group. I know of one other organization, in town, that does what we do, but veteran specific. ORA didn’t want to pigeon hole itself into one category or another. We also didn’t want to limit our reach from those that serve our country AND community. So we decided that even though mental health awareness and advocacy is our main focus, it’s not our only focus. Fortunately for me, I have some incredible contacts and I can track down just about any service or information necessary. That personalization of knowing my contacts on a first name basis is another thing we wanted to ensure was a part of this organization. We want to have a professional relationship with our “go to” organizations. We want to know that we can call at any hour of the day and get help. We pride ourselves on referring out with 100% confidence that the individual WILL be taken care of without issue. ORA isn’t a 1-800 number or an “info” email that turns around and directs you to other 1-800 numbers. That doesn’t mean we haven’t had to direct to organizations that we haven’t established ourselves with yet. In these cases, we make sure to be available for the follow-up and taking further action if necessary. And if everything works out well, we can add the organization to our list and work on establishing the professional relationship.
I do want to say we are NOT medical health professionals, we cannot provide immediate life saving assistance and we cannot control outside circumstances. Always dial 911 for immediate medical assistance. Dial 988 for the National Suicide Hotline, You can dial 1-800-COPLINE (1-800-267-5463) for a 24/7 Retired Active Peer listener. Dial 1-800-273-8255 & Press 1 for Military & Veteran Crisis Line. You can view some other helpful numbers at the bottom of our homepage at https://operationresourcearizona.com/
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I have always enjoyed volunteering in my community. I have been involved in a little of everything over the years and not finding my niche until more recently. An opportunity to run a nonprofit that assisted Southern Arizona first responders was when I started to feel like I had hit my stride within the community. I grew the organization beyond first responders and into the veteran community. There are a large amount of first responders that are also veterans, making the inclusion logically a smart move. In the end, I wanted to pursue a slightly different than my current nonprofit and decided to move on.
In November 2021, with the support of four other individuals, Operation Resource Arizona (ORA) was founded. Our mission is to provide information, resources, and funding to uniformed personnel located in Arizona. The goal is to educate our community about the mental health and the available resources for Veterans, First Responders/EMS, Law Enforcement Officers, Dispatchers, Correctional Officers, Border Patrol Agents, Nurses and their immediate families.
The Operation Resource Arizona team is a solid group of individuals who have worked in or been extensively involved with our first responders and/or military. Former Phoenix Police Officer, Pedro Jungk, is our Executive Director and has a passion for helping the LEO community. Margauex DeConcini, our Secretary, earned a Master of Social Work degree and is also the Development Director at Therapeutic Riding of Tucson (TROT). Marshall Johnson, our Vice President and Co-Founder went through the Pima Community College Firefighter Academy and earned his Fire Science Certificate. Kristina Grebloski, our Treasurer, has grown up around first responders and has plenty of experience assisting others thanks to her job with the Tucson Unified School District (TUSD). Mike Thomas, our Military & Veteran Educator, is a veteran, service dog trainer and the owner of local celebrity service dog, Scott Bullet Dog. And I, Kristin Marie Johnson, founder and President, come from a family of veterans and first responders. I have a Sociology degree and a passion for helping others. Together, we are a passionate group of individuals seeking to make our community better for those that serve day in and day out.
ORA may be a new organization but we have incredible supporters and partners all over Arizona, California, Utah, Texas, and Florida. One of the things I love about my job is the ability to still volunteer with other nonprofits! I have been active with Operation 22- PTSD Awareness, TROT, Women Warriors, and the VVA Chapter 106.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
Getting to where I am today has not been a smooth road. I homeschool my three kids, I handle the social media presence for our family business and our youth sports league, I’m a wife, the President of ORA and active Honorary Commander for the 355th Operational Medical Readiness Squadron at DMAFB. Despite having to plan my schedule extensively, we have had to find ways to fund our basic operating expenses. Southern Arizona has hundreds of registered nonprofits and it limits available funds to newer organizations like ORA. Not only do we have various organizations to “compete” with for donations, we understand businesses are still recovering from the COVID pandemic. We are very aware of the financial strain that some businesses are under and appreciate any support they can give to our local heroes. We have had to find new ways to raise funds and have fortunately been a recipient of donations from other nonprofits to keep our heads above water. Everyone at ORA does this out of passion. We don’t accept any paychecks or reimbursements for the time, effort and out of pocket expenses put into ORA and the people we serve. We will hopefully continue to operate and keep helping one person at a time.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
I started with an organization that assisted First Responders in the Southern Arizona region. After working a couple years with this group, I pivoted and decided to try a wider range of assistance with a more broad approach as a directory. There are always growing pains when you start something new and especially when you start something that isn’t necessarily being done in your area. Yes, there are tons of organizations out there that provide services or funding to first responders and veterans. But how well are they taking care of our heroes? That’s where we have decided to create connections with others in the community to make sure we refer to the best of the best. We don’t want anyone to be let down, especially when they need assistance imperative to their health and wellbeing.
The ORA team has heard stories of individuals getting subpar assistance, being forgotten or not fully educated when it came to services available. We know knowledge is power and we want to educate our community. Our community can step up and provide a service back to those in uniform. That’s how ORA is pivoting and setting ourselves apart from others in Arizona.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://operationresourcearizona.com/
- Instagram: operationresourceaz
- Facebook: OperationResourceAZ
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/operation-resource-arizona/
Image Credits
Matt Carrier Photography (2nd Photo only)