The Reverend Patrick J. Steiert (Founder and President) has over 20 years of pastoral experience, and nearly 30 years of experience in training Suicide Awareness and Prevention Programs. He has been a certified Suicide Intervention Instructor since 2004.Patrick is ordained by Mountain Creek Community Church of Dallas, TX and endorsed with the Chaplaincy of Full Gospel Churches. He is a 28-year veteran of the U.S. Army Reserves serving 10 years as an Infantry Officer and 18 years as a Chaplain retiring with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.
From 2004-2008, he instructed deploying soldiers in the art of basic suicide intervention. During this time he personally trained every National Guard and Reserve chaplain team deploying from Fort Hood, TX. Apart from these teams, he trained in the excess of 1,000 soldiers to utilized these skills on numerous deployments across the world.
Patrick implemented the concept of Suicide Intervention Teams (SITs) designed to monitor the well being of soldiers. This concept continues to be utilized in military units today. Patrick has designed a similar concept for use in businesses, institutions, schools and colleges.
Patrick is a 1981 graduate of West Texas State University (Canyon, TX) where he acquired BS degrees in Journalism and Speech Communications. He is a 1988 graduate of the Assemblies of God Theological Seminary (Springfield, MO) acquiring a MDiv in Pastoral Ministry. An author of numerous feature articles and devotionals, he and his wife Andrea and their two children reside in DeSoto, TX.
As a survivor, Daniel acquired help and support from family and friends, and eventually over came his depression and suicidal ideation. As a result of this experience, Daniel understands the vital necessity of intervention skills being available to schools and businesses.
Originally from Iowa, Daniel holds an Associates Degree of Applied Sciences in Telecommunications/Electronics from Indian Hills Community College (Ottumwa, IA). Daniel moved to Dallas, TX in 2000. Currently he works at Texas Instruments as a Equipment Engineering Technician.
Daniel serves on two other 501 (c) 3 boards, including Mountain Creek Community Church, where he serves as an elder. He currently resides in Dallas, TX with his wife Sara. They are the proud parents of three children.
David Pipkins (Treasurer) is a twenty year veteran of the United States Army. He is no stranger to the subjects of Suicide Awareness/Prevention and Suicide Intervention. He acquired his intervention certification in October 2004 and assisted Chaplain Steiert in personally training more than 1,000 soldiers in the basics of Suicide Intervention. He is an active part of his community's intervention programs.
Apart from intervention skills, David provides unique insight on Family Enrichment and Family Strengthening issues. He is a gifted instructor and beloved guest speaker at seminars and intervention courses.
David possesses undergraduate degrees from Southern Bible College, and completed a Masters in Business Administration from Lamar University in 2011. David and his wife Cindy reside in Nederland, TX and are the proud parents of three children and five grandchildren.
Mr Jonathan Colon (Board Member) became a member of his church’s Suicide Intervention Team in 2011 and works closely with Reverend Steiert in its continued development.
Jonathan provides much needed multi-lingual skill giving this particular SIT the unique ability to connect with various non-English speaking cultural groups.
Jonathan and his wife Lissie reside in Dallas, TX.
Dr. Sam Cooper (Board Member) holds numerous educational degrees including two Master of TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages). He is a 2007 graduate of Capella University where he acquired a Ph.D in Education.
Sam has over 25 years teaching experience including teacher mentoring, curriculum and professional development projects both in the US and overseas.
Sam and his wife Myrna and their two children reside in Waxahachie, TX.
ABOUT OUR INSTRUCTORS:
The Reverend Richard Brunk (Lead Instructor - Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training) holds a diversified educational background. He attended Institute Catholique and Institute Touraine in France, the L'Abri Fellowship in Switzerland and graduated with a BA in Philosophy from Denison University in Ohio.
Richard acquired a Masters of Theology from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, and underwent counseling supervision at the Davidson Clinic at Lubbock General Hospital/Texas Tech Health Sciences Center (Lubbock, TX).
He held a private counseling practice and served as a hospital chaplain for a number of years before returning to full time parish work.
While serving with the Army National Guard, Richard became one of the first chaplains trained by Reverend Steiert in Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training. He utilized his ASIST skills many times in a combat settings (Iraq) rescuing numerous soldiers from suicide. After his return from Iraq, Richard became a certified ASIST instructor and today holds the title of ASIST Master Trainer.
Richard acquired additioanl training through the University of Pennsylvania as a Master Resilience Trainer.
Richard holds professional and personal knowledge on the critical issues of Suicide Awareness, Suicide Intervention, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injury. He has written numerous articles on these subjects and has appeared on talk radio and major media networks as a guest speaker.
Richard resides in the Houston area and travels extensively in support of issues affecting both civilians and military personnel.