A shining light in dark times

In the chilly darkness outside, police paced the eerily empty lanes of Highway 99, trying to make sense of an accident that killed a motorcycle rider and a young father trying to cross the busy thoroughfare on foot.

But inside the Support 7 motor home, a glow of care and warmth enveloped Xochilt Nieves, 23, and her three young children.

Three-year-old Christopher Garcia is just old enough to understand what he saw that night, standing on the sidewalk with his mother, little brother and baby sister as he watched his father approach the curb. A Lynnwood police report says 19-year-old Jeremy Molenda was doing a wheelie on his motorcycle when he collided with Carlos Garcia, 32, who was crossing the street. Both died at the scene.

Christopher clearly remembers the Nov. 17 accident, his mother said.

But maybe he'll also remember the off-duty fire-battalion chief who played with him and 1½-year-old Giovanny Garcia inside the Support 7 vehicle that night, making paper airplanes and coloring with crayons while a cartoon movie played on an overhead TV.

Knowing her sons were taken care of, Nieves could grieve and gather her strength. A Spanish-speaking chaplain, one of many Support 7 volunteers called to the scene that night, sat with her on a small, L-shape couch in the vehicle's rear, offering much-appreciated comfort. Nieves held her baby, 2-month-old Marcella.

"He said I shouldn't feel alone. My husband is in heaven and being taken care of," she recalled recently, speaking through an interpreter. "It helped."

Ken Gaydos, an Edmonds Fire Department chaplain who created the nonprofit program in 1986, also went to the Lynnwood accident scene that night. He didn't have to. The program has a pool of 30 volunteers — 10 chaplains and 20 lay people — on call around the clock to respond to police and fire emergencies throughout South Snohomish County.

When Gaydos arrived he saw the two little boys inside the motor home, flying their airplanes with volunteer Bud NcCorchuk, a battalion chief for Fire District 1. He could see their mother was being tended to as well, in a private space.

"I thought, 'Thank you, Lord, that we have this unit,' " Gaydos recalled.

Support 7 traces its roots to the early 1970s, when Gaydos recruited local pastors to help families whose lives are severely affected by police or fire emergencies. Those secondary victims can include a spouse who awakens to find a loved one who died during the night, the parents of a teenager who commits suicide or dies in a car crash, or families that just lost everything in a house fire.

A drowning at Bracketts Landing Beach in Edmonds inspired Gaydos to acquire the program's first motor home, a converted ambulance, in 1986. The victim's wife and children lacked a private place, away from curious onlookers and television cameras, to wait while divers searched for his body.

The mobile counseling center was the first of its kind in the nation, Gaydos said.

The Support 7 program became a model for hundreds of other emergency departments.

"[Gaydos] is passionate about this. He goes all over the country and world, teaching police and fire agencies how to implement these things," Lynnwood Deputy Chief David Ivers said.

Because of the nature of their jobs, police officers and firefighters can't devote the kind of attention to families that Support 7 offers, he said. They're too busy investigating the murder or dousing the fire.

Support 7 comforts the families, explains what the police or firefighters are doing, locates family members or friends to provide longer-term support, offers food and drink, and makes sure they have a place to sleep that night. A local Embassy Suites donates free lodging, while restaurants such as Lynnwood's Old Country Buffet can be counted on to provide free food for families and emergency workers.

"The type of situation they get called to is very traumatic; they fulfill a role that the first responders can't," Ivers said. "They are a very dedicated, very compassionate, very skilled group of people."

Even the police and firefighters sometimes need an emotional boost from Support 7.

Less than a week after the motorcycle accident, Support 7 was called to the scene of a murder-suicide in Edmonds. Firefighters and police had found Stephen Byrne in his back yard, with a gunshot to his head, then located his two young daughters dead in their beds. As the investigation unfolded, Support 7 chaplains quietly checked to make sure those emergency workers were OK.

"They just do a marvelous job of going around checking with police officers and firefighters on the scene," said Edmonds Mayor Gary Haakenson, who spent hours at the Nov. 22 death scene. "Are you OK? Do you want to talk?"

Support 7 volunteers come from many backgrounds, Gaydos said. One is a Boeing executive; another works on cars. A significant amount of training is required, and they must live within a 20-minute drive of the Lynnwood fire station where the Support 7 motor home is housed.

Two years ago, Support 7 raised $33,000 to buy the larger recreational vehicle now in use. It has a bathroom, a stove, cold drinks, cookies, coffee, hot dogs and cupboards full of stuffed animals, videos and other children's supplies.

A large box of tissues sits next to a couch.

The focus usually isn't on providing religious guidance, Gaydos said. When he meets a family member at an emergency scene, he usually introduces himself simply as "Ken" and waits until later to even mention he's a chaplain, he said.

"Amid all the chaos and trauma," he said, "is this quiet refuge where someone can maybe not heal all their wounds, but put their arms around them and just love them."

Diane Brooks: 425-745-7802 or dbrooks@seattletimes.com