If you want to get to know the heart of Aurora, I suggest you meet Community Oriented Police Officer Jason Woolsey.
Or Officer Chris Moore. Or Officer Skyy Calice. Or Officer Dave Bemer. Or Officer Nikole Petersen. Or Officer Tracy Archer.
Even better, look into the face of 7-year-old Kenosha Stampley, who was able to move this week with her grandmother into a bigger, nicer and safer apartment, thanks to Woolsey and a half dozen other Aurora police officers.
There – again, thanks to Woolsey and company – the Beaupre Elementary first-grader not only had a freshly-renovated bedroom waiting for her on Wednesday after school, it was filled with brand new furniture, bedding and all sorts of colorful decorations including those featuring the ubiquitous wide-eyed Elsa and her “Frozen” buddies.
Kenosha and Woolsey became good buddies at Maple Terrace, a low-income housing complex off Second Avenue where she had been living since age 2 with grandmother Sheila Jackson. Officer and child grew close, in part, because there are so few kids in these studio or one-bedroom apartments, and she “stood out,” he said, because “she is “bright, articulate, polite” and filled with joy.
It was a bond so tight, that even on his own time, Woolsey, a former Marine and father of two little girls himself, would sit and read books with Kenosha and go over her homework. Because her grandmother could not read or write, the officer, well aware of the importance education is in the home, wanted to help ensure her success in school.
But Woolsey, who believes every child also deserves to grow up in a safe environment, wanted more for Kenosha.
And so, working closely with Aurora Housing Authority Property Manager Victoria Croft, who was equally determined to get Jackson and her granddaughter into a more “family friendly” environment, they were able to secure for them a two-bedroom apartment in the South Wind complex, where Kenosha would not only have her own room but plenty of outdoor space in which to play.
But new digs are even better when they come with new furnishings.
And so Woolsey did what many COP officers often do with little or no fanfare – donated their own time and money to help a family in need. Working with Highland Furniture and Sergio Furniture in Aurora for deeply discounted deals, they even admitted to going a little overboard on this project.
After unloading a U-Haul worth of items, for a couple of hours on that spring-like afternoon, they worked nonstop alongside Croft, who also donated furnishings, setting up the new apartment. Not only did Kenosha get a new bedroom set and furnishings, her grandmother also received a new bed. And as Calice filled the upstairs bathroom with newly-purchased items, downstairs her male counterparts hauled in boxes with new glasses and stoneware for the family’s new dining room set.
“Are you ready to go inside and see your new bedroom?” Woolsey asked the little girl after he returned from picking her up at school.
She was. And Kenosha immediately threw herself on her new bed, burying her head into the sea of oversized pillows, smiling widely as she looked around at her new books, throw rug, karaoke machine and her name spelled out in big bright letters on the freshly-painted wall.
“It is perfect,” she announced.
The only one more overwhelmed was her grandmother who at times struggled with her emotions.
“This is so beautiful. So nice,” she continued to repeat. “I can’t believe they did all this for us.”
Woolsey understands that, as police officers, it is impossible to become so deeply involved in the lives of the many at-risk families they work with throughout their days. But he also realizes you still need to do what you can.
“While we can’t save the world,” he noted, “we can sometimes break the cycle by giving one child what she needs.”
And Kenosha “has so much to give,” he said, promising he and his colleagues will continue being involved in her life so that one day “I can watch her walk across the stage at her graduation.”
“We’re not through,” said Woolsey as he surveyed Kenosha’s new surroundings. “This is just the beginning.”
