Our President, My Hero

Kevin Roger is the President and forerunner for Heroes Housing Foundation and when he is wasn\’t working 24 on and 48 off he was either teaching at the Fire Academy or assisting with Heroes Housing Foundation by raising money for our events, raffle items and such or meeting with people to organize the next event.

For Captain Roger training does not just happen in the classroom, its part of life on every shift. He is constantly training and improving his crew to be better firefighters on the job.

When we started Heroes Housing Capt Roger was still planning on 5 to 7 more years with the Department, until he went out on an injury.  When the doctor told him it was time to consider retirement his life took a major change. When we started Heroes Housing and the Foundation is to help his brothers and sisters….then he found himself having to work thru the maze of Short Term vs Long Term disability and the quick cut in pay. It was then that the foundation took a whole new meaning in his world.

Why Heroes Housing Foundation?

With the injury and then retirement set in and having been hit a few years before that  during the foreclosure crisis he knew first hand how bad lending with over inflated values and experienced the devastation in loosing a home. That is why he is passionate about raising money to step in when bridge the gap with financial assistance and education when one of our Heroes is experiencing difficulty due to death, disability or divorce.

Being a firefighter isn\’t just a job for Capt Roger its his life, its who he is and his fellow firefighters are his brothers and sisters, they are his family.   On many occasions he is intensely listening to an podcast on fire rescue or reading the latest tactic training and making sure his guys are always trained and prepared for the call of duty. He is always learning, always training, always willing to meet any kid who\’s parents call because their son wants to be a firefighter. This was not his job, this is his passion; one that many of us can not even begin to understand. His crew were not his crew they are his sons and brothers/sisters. Although he was born as the only son, he has brothers/sisters all over the world.

He is the calm in my storm, the rock, he is my best friend, my husband, an amazing father to our children….but first and foremost, he is a Firefighter. So when that alarm goes off or the emergency comes he puts on his gear, enters the truck and goes.  When most people are running out, they are running in, because that\’s what they do, when duty calls.