I know first-hand how stressful, unforgiving and what a heavy burden it is to be a law enforcement family in our community. After 25 years of being a law enforcement officer's wife, I know the effects and the toll it takes on an officer and their family members and I will always show my support to those who are our protectors.

With our work at Seven Dancers Coalition with "Welcoming Back The Spirit," I have heard many stories from people who are formerly incarcerated and they all say the same thing when they return to the community, that there needs to be the police and they are even thankful to the police officers for doing their job. They are the ones who are ashamed of their past behavior and willing to do anything to create change to prevent more of our youth from going to prison.

Working with both formerly incarcerated people and law enforcement officers has been a journey that I never intended but it has shown me a lot.

Today, we delivered these small gifts to The Saint Regis Mohawk Tribal Police and to The Akwesasne Mohawk Police Service to show that there is a majority of the people out there in our community who care about our officers and appreciate all of the hard work and dedication that they provide day in and day out to keep us safe.

Amie Barnes