Our story
About Community First Aid
Why CFA was created
Built in direct response to a community need
Community First Aid grew from several bodies of work coming together around the same need: workplaces asking for better ways to support people through stress and difficult moments, peer networks already helping people navigate care and show up for one another, and teams looking for practical resilience skills they could use day to day. Those pieces converged into one model—practical tools, peer support, clear pathways to care, regular practice, and structured post-incident support—so care isn't limited to a training or a one-time response, but becomes part of how a team operates. By 2025, organizations were clear they needed more than a workshop: help staying steady under pressure, supporting one another earlier, navigating care more effectively, and knowing what to do in the days and weeks after a difficult event. CFA was built for that—to strengthen support before something happens, provide structure when it does, and help teams stay connected and resourced long after.
Clear scope
What CFA Is and Isn't
CFA strengthens the spaces between—inside workplaces, on shift, among people who already know each other.
CFA is not
- Emergency response
- Clinical treatment
- A replacement for existing services
CFA is
- Prevention and early support
- Peer connection and resource navigation
- Post-incident follow-up
- A bridge to formal care when needed
The people behind CFA
Meet the CFA Team
Clinicians, facilitators, and community organizers who built CFA from real workplace needs.
Christi Garner, LMFT, DBH-C
Co-founder of Holistic Emotional First Aid. Clinical trauma specialist with 20+ years supporting first responders, veterans, and healthcare workers.
Ruthi Solari, MS
Integrative healthcare and wellness program design. Two decades building systems that help organizations support people at work.
Shannon Steele, MS
Co-founder of Be Well Big Sky and the Navigator Network. Focused on community organizing, trauma-informed care, and behavioral health systems.
Ally Wold, LMFT
Clinical supervisor and owner of Big Sky Counseling, with 10+ years of therapeutic experience.
Implementation partners
We partner to put CFA into practice
