This past summer our shelter was experiencing some very trying times. There were some pretty nasty drugs out on the street that was causing some very aggressive and dangerous behavior. Our guests, staff and volunteers were all suffering from the stress and our shelter no longer felt safe.
One day a man by the name of Brice Sloan came to learn about our struggles and wanted to see if he could help. Brice is the CEO of Sloan Companies, an industry leader in providing perimeter security across the county and based right here in Boise, ID. Brice spent time at our shelter observing our intake process and learning about the challenges we needed to overcome to help create a safer space for everyone.
It didn’t take long for Brice to come up with a plan which would include: training for our staff, a wanding program, cameras installed to improve our visual security inside and outside the shelter, and training for our staff on how to utilize the new equipment and improve the safety of our intake process. Brice worked with:
• Ron Hunt from Cook Security Group, who donated the provision and installation of the security cameras.
• Peter Ashwin from ERMS (Event Risk Management Solutions) who evaluated the intake system.
• Sloan Security Group who donated all of the equipment, labor and training.
We are so grateful for all the work that has been done at our shelter. The new systems make all the difference in the world.
But then, winter came, and Brice was at the Shelter volunteering. He observed our staff outside in the cold doing intake with our new wanding program and immediately sent out a email to his industry partners, explained our situation and asked for some advice on how to improve the comfort level for our staff and guests. One of his competitors, Mark Oakes, CEO of Concentric Security, had worked a similar situation and they had used propane heaters to create a warmer setting. Mark went on to donate two propane heaters and a gift card to cover the cost of the propane. The heaters arrived two weeks later and have been creating a much more pleasant atmosphere for our intake process.
We want to thank all of the businesses that worked with Brice to bring security, comfort and peace of mind to our shelter: Sloan Companies, Cook Security Group, ERMS and Concentric Security, LLC.
