Our Story
Our Story
Meet the founders, Dan and Julia.
Dan and Julia have been navigating life as a law enforcement family for four years. During that time, they welcomed their son and began to experience many of the challenges that other first responder families face. Naturally, being an officer has exposed Dan to all sides of humanity-- the good, bad, and in-between. He began his career as an inner-city police officer, and along with it came obstacles that no academy can prepare you for. Yes, the shifts were hard, but nothing compared to the 'after-hours'; the silent drive home and flipping the switch in order to be a father and husband. For a long while, it posed difficulties that neither Dan or Julia knew how to manage and, with a new baby, they felt their marriage and mental health deteriorating.
Julia later returned to graduate school for social work and quickly recognized a natural draw towards advocating for first responder mental health. Slowly, as Dan transitioned into a new department and began his own healing, Julia learned more about what it meant to truly be a law enforcement spouse. Together, they began to mend their relationship with one another and with themselves.
Despite the dichotomy of their professions, both Dan and Julia have grown to understand the challenges that first responder families face and also recognize the lack of support that is available. Mental health discussions among the first responder community remain heavily veiled, despite the dire need for increased awareness and resources. Using both of their personal and professional experiences, Dan and Julia decided to embark on a journey in creating the Cover6Collective-- a specially curated clothing line tailored to all first responders, their families, friends, and all other supporters of the field. With each purchase, a portion of the proceeds are donated towards supporting first responder mental health through partnerships with first responder wellness organizations. To learn more about the organizations and movements we support, please visit the Donations page.
Our goal in creating Cover6Collective is simple-- to give back to those who serve on the front line. We hope that Cover6Collective helps to not just show support of our first responders, but also shed light on the importance of mental health in this field and work to contribute towards increased resourcing so that we can have their backs, just like they have ours.
