ROCK HERO, ROBIN ZIEGLER

In 2008, Robin Ziegler was a single mother who had recently moved to San Diego and was wondering what was next in her life when she took a class on crisis intervention at the Rock.

Suddenly it was as if her design and calling were revealed in a single moment.

With a unique ability to stay calm and clear-minded in the face of tragedy—and a deep compassion for people, Robin endured the endless hours of training to join the San Diego Police Department Crisis Intervention team as part of the Rock Church Community Chaplaincy ministry.

For 10 to 15 hours a week, Robin volunteers to walk into some of the most heart-wrenching situations imaginable—where people have only moments earlier lost their loved-ones to murder, drug over-dose, suicide, gang violence or natural causes and offers the emotional support that SDPD is under-equipped to handle.

Robin offers the ability to defuse volatile situations, comfort to panic-stricken or overwrought survivors and guidance for the family to get the resources they need—such as what to do next, and how to manage life without their loved one.

With the SDPD staffing shortages, Robin and the Crisis Intervention team make San Diego safer by enabling the police to complete their crime scene investigation and get back to the streets while the team deals with all theemotional aftermath.

“They are truly horrible situations, the kind that most would never want to hear about let alone walk into,” says Robin. “But in Jesus, I have been given the ultimate blessing. Being there for His children when they are hurting does not seem like too much to ask.”

But if that were not enough, Robin is also training with the SanDiego Fire-Rescue Department’s Community Emergency Response Team, or CERT.

Says Pastor Mickey Stonier, a Crisis Intervention instructor, “Robin is an amazing example of a Do Something Church leader who is committed to serving San Diego at the very moment of crisis and brokenness. Her life is a testimony of someone who has truly been touched by the saving grace of Jesus Christ.”

Adds Robin, “It just feels so good to fulfill my God-given design.”

And San Diego is the better for it. Congratulations Robin Ziegler, Rock Hero, March 2012.