Courageous Lions
Courageous Lions for Courageous Kids Program
In August of 2022, Seattle Police Department Community Service Officer (CSO) Jeff Steuby was walking out of SPD Headquarters on his way to a domestic violence call.
A Seattle man was physically abusing his wife and had broken her cellphone. The incident was reported to police by his 11-year-old son, who had called 911 using his Apple watch.
The boy’s 7-year-old sister was hiding under a blanket in a bedroom.
Knowing these basic details, Steuby paused on his way to the car to grab a stuffed animal or some other kind of comfort item to give to the young man for his bravery. By pure happenstance, the CSO Unit happened to have a stuffed lion in its inventory, which Steuby grabbed with a sense of satisfaction.
“A lion is perfect for this young man,” he thought to himself.
SPF’s grant program brings Courageous Lions to life….
This event was a catalyst for something much bigger than a single call response, and over the span of a couple months the ‘Courageous Lions for Courageous Kids’ program began to take shape. In November of 2022, Steuby applied for a grant through the Seattle Police Foundation, to fund this idea meant to lead traumatized youth down a healing path that brings comfort, courage, and hope, even on the darkest days.
And he didn’t stop there. Steuby continued to look for ways to have an even more meaningful impact on young survivors of abuse, assault, and trauma. He connected with the assistant director at the Harborview Abuse and Trauma Center, who agreed to provide free trauma counseling to any child routed to therapy through SPD’s ‘Courageous Lions for Courageous Kids’ program. The program is simple. Anytime a CSO, patrol officer, investigator, or detective encounters a young person who has experienced trauma resulting from a life-changing event, Courageous Lions for Courageous Kids gives them the ability to present the child with a plush lion, a personalized Certificate of Courage, and access to free trauma counseling provided by the Harborview Abuse and Trauma Center.
‘Courageous Lions for Courageous Kids’ provides:
- A stuffed lion
- A personalized Certificate of Courage
- Therapeutic intervention at no cost to the survivor
- Peace of mind for responding CSOs/Officers
“The lion can be an anchor,” Steuby said. “Every time the child looks at that lion, it will remind them of the time they were courageous. They’ll be able to tell themselves, ‘I was courageous that day, I can be courageous again.’”
‘Courageous Lions for Courageous Kids’ formally launched in February 2024. Each of the Seattle Police Department’s five precincts plus headquarters will be equipped with a supply of plush lions, blank certificates of courage, and informational brochures from the Harborview Abuse and Trauma Center.
The Seattle Police Foundation is honored to help make ‘Courageous Lions for Courageous Kids’ a reality and thanks its donors for making programs like this possible.
Get the Courageous Lions one-pager here!
To support community outreach programs like Courageous Lions and others, visit our Relational Policing donation page.