Hi, I'm Alice Dicroce and I'm fundraising for Sergeant Davin Cole.

Davin Cole is an amazing man, police officer, friend, husband and father of two beautiful girls.

This may be the quintessential story of how life can sometimes take a baffling turn. I invite your compassion as you read forward.

Sergeant Davin Cole, has been a member of the San Francisco Police Department for 27+ years and he was fourth in line to be promoted to lieutenant. For almost 4 years as an Acting Lieutenant, Sergeant Cole had been assigned to the Healthy Streets Operation Center, a city wide collaboration with multiple city agencies, working together to address homeless encampments and the mental health and substance abuse that can go hand in hand with homelessness. Sergeant Cole spent many hours of his shift working to get the unhoused into supportive housing and mental health and substance abuse facilities. Despite his ability to help others with mental health and addiction issues, he had his own struggles. Allow me to back up about 10 years to an incident that occurred that changed the course of Davin's life forever.

Because of his love of dogs and interest in diversifying his career, Davin decided to become a K9 handler for the Department. When the sergeant / trainer of the K9 Unit tragically died during a training exercise, Davin volunteered to be one of the two unit trainers. For the next 10 years Davin was responsible for the testing, purchasing and training of all the police service dogs. Even with protective equipment and safety protocols, officers are at risk of injury during training and on occasion do get bit by the police service dogs during training. Most do not result in serious injury. Unfortunately this was not the case for Davin. During a training exercise he suffered a serious lower leg bite that damaged the nerves in his calf. Even with the best medical treatment available and surgery a few years later, he remains in pain to this day. While his pain is manageable now, it was almost unbearable in the months and years following the incident. After years of treatment, therapies and surgery, doctors prescribed medication to ease and manage his pain.

This was the beginning of a decade-long struggle with the life consuming disease known as-- addiction.

Over time the meds were insufficient and he took to drinking alcohol to amplify their effects, intensifying the addiction. The years wore on and his addiction progressed beyond anything he could comprehend or manage. While he continued to put on a good face at work and at home, his disease and secret addiction began to overtake the heart and soul of who he was, growing beyond his control and jeopardizing his beloved professional life, his personal life and his own.

Reaching this scary rock bottom, Davin entered residential rehab on his own volition. He is deeply sorry and mortified beyond words. Davin was placed on unpaid leave and has submitted his retirement paperwork but it will be a while before his pension comes through; subsequently, he is frightened about how he will afford to make ends meet for himself and his family, as he struggles to put his life back together with mental health counseling, rehab support and detox medications to help his body reestablish an equilibrium from his years long struggle with addiction.

If you know anything about addiction, you know that it is in fact a disease and not one easily understood. He is now finally getting the help he has long wanted and needed.

Davin is working on his recovery, his law enforcement career is over, and he will have to pick up the pieces to rebuild himself after the acute phase and grueling rehab and detox period. Dealing with addiction will be a lifetime process, and he knows it. However, between the time demands of his intensive rehab and medical treatment he is absolutely unable to secure employment. The lack of money is destabilizing for his family and for him.

Please, can you open your hearts and wallets to help Davin and his dear family through this trying time while they have absolutely no income?

Anything you can do, anything you can give would be deeply and graciously appreciated. If you can't give, may I ask you to share this link in hopes that others can?

Thank you so much for your compassion and understanding.