RESILIENCE STARTS HERE
About Project Resilience 911
Project Resilience 911 exists to ensure that first responders, frontline workers, military personnel, and their families never have to walk alone.
We support the mental wellness of those who serve by starting honest conversations, reducing stigma, and providing peer-led, culturally aware support grounded in lived experience.
Our Mission
Project Resilience 911 strengthens the well-being of first responders and trauma-exposed professionals through confidential, culturally responsive peer support, proactive wellness initiatives, and trauma-informed guidance. We deliver equally accessible mental health tools, crisis resources, and education grounded in compassion and lived experience.
Our VISION
A resilient, connected, trauma-informed community where seeking help is recognized as a strength, wellness is valued alongside operational readiness, and every trauma-exposed professional has timely, equitable access to compassionate, culturally informed mental-health support.
Who We Serve
Project Resilience 911 supports:
Police
Fire
EMS
Corrections
Military Personnel
Telecoms Personnel
Families and support systems
Health Care Personnel
Social/Support Services
Educators
Originally founded in Brandon, Manitoba, Project Resilience 911 has grown into a province-wide collaborative network working alongside agencies across Manitoba, including police, fire, EMS, corrections, military, emergency communications, healthcare, and crisis services.
Our work focuses on sharing resources, training opportunities, funding pathways, and wellness initiatives to strengthen support systems across all public safety sectors.
Leadership & Governance
The organization operates under a governance model that prioritizes accountability, ethical practice, cultural safety, and sustainability. Guidance is supported through advisory voices that include public safety professionals, mental-health experts, Indigenous knowledge keepers, and individuals with lived experience.
All peer supporters adhere to strict ethical standards, including confidentiality, appropriate boundaries, and trauma-informed, survivor-centered practice. Policies and programs are reviewed regularly to ensure continuous improvement and alignment with best practices.
Amanda Conway
President and co-founder
The President and Co-Founder of Project Resilience 911, bringing lived experience as both a police officer and a registered social worker. She remains registered with the Manitoba College of Social Workers, serves on its Board of Directors, and is also a certified yoga teacher offering trauma-informed yoga. Amanda’s work is grounded in cultural awareness, ethical practice, and a deep commitment to supporting the mental wellness and resilience of public safety professionals through compassionate, peer-led care.
Board members:
Katie Chappellaz
Katie brings over a decade of frontline healthcare and emergency response experience to the organization’s mission of supporting first responders and promoting community resilience. Since 2010, Katie has worked as an Intermediate Care Paramedic with Shared Health and is also a Licensed Practical Nurse in the Emergency Department. Her experience in high-stress and crisis environments has given her firsthand insight into the mental health challenges faced by first responders and healthcare professionals. Katie volunteers with Project Resilience 911 as well as Project Linus Manitoba. She is passionate about advancing mental health awareness and strengthening support systems for those who serve our communities.
ngaire abernethy
Ngaire recently retired after 45 years as a front-line social worker. Ngaire and her husband George were posted in many rural and northern communities with the RCMP. Ngaire has been providing support to first responders and health care workers through several CISM networks for most of her career. Ngaire is also a clinical trainer for the Peer and Trauma Support Systems (PATSS) training program under the Mood Disorders Society of Canada. Ngaire is an active volunteer with her therapy dogs and is honored to be at the other end of the leash of these incredible animals. She is a co-founder of PATDogs therapy dog group, a member of the PATDogs Trauma Response Emotional Assistance Team (T.R.E.A.T.), and is an adviser to Paws 4 Valour, a canine-assisted peer support group for public safety personnel. In 2024, Ngaire completed a Graduate Certificate in Animal-Assisted Social Work at Slippery Rock University in Pennsylvania. Her current canine partner Koki is a tiny, brave lap dog.
bailey mccannell
Bailey grew up in small-town Saskatchewan and moved to Brandon to attend Brandon University, where she earned her Bachelor of Science in Psychiatric Nursing in 2019. She has since worked as a full-time clinician with the Mobile Crisis Unit, casually with the Crisis Stabilization Unit, and currently serves as a clinician with the new Crisis Response Unit out of the Brandon Police Service. Bailey has been part of Project Resilience since 2023 and was fortunate enough to be given the opportunity to become a certified ASIST trainer through PR911. Bailey is passionate about supporting first responders, frontline workers, and service providers, and stands behind everything PR911 offers to our communities. Outside of work, she enjoys the outdoors and can often be found on the back of her horse, travelling the prairie provinces on the rodeo trail, and during the winter, you can find her in the curling rink.
Meet Our Board Members
Katie brings over a decade of frontline healthcare and emergency response experience to the organization’s mission of supporting first responders and promoting community resilience. Since 2010, Katie has worked as an Intermediate Care Paramedic with Shared Health and is also a Licensed Practical Nurse in the Emergency Department. Her experience in high-stress and crisis environments has given her firsthand insight into the mental health challenges faced by first responders and healthcare professionals. Katie volunteers with Project Resilience 911 as well as Project Linus Manitoba. She is passionate about advancing mental health awareness and strengthening support systems for those who serve our communities.
Katie Chappellaz
bailey mccannell
Bailey grew up in small-town Saskatchewan and moved to Brandon to attend Brandon University, where she earned her Bachelor of Science in Psychiatric Nursing in 2019. She has since worked as a full-time clinician with the Mobile Crisis Unit, casually with the Crisis Stabilization Unit, and currently serves as a clinician with the new Crisis Response Unit out of the Brandon Police Service. Bailey has been part of Project Resilience since 2023 and was fortunate enough to be given the opportunity to become a certified ASIST trainer through PR911. Bailey is passionate about supporting first responders, frontline workers, and service providers, and stands behind everything PR911 offers to our communities. Outside of work, she enjoys the outdoors and can often be found on the back of her horse, travelling the prairie provinces on the rodeo trail, and during the winter, you can find her in the curling rink.
our community PARTNERS
Project Resilience 911 is proud to partner with organizations that share our commitment to connection, healing, and resilience.
PATDogs is a Brandon, Manitoba–based group of certified therapy dogs and volunteer handlers who support wellness by visiting local venues and community events, offering comfort, connection, and moments of calm when they’re needed most.
Paws4Valour provides free dog training classes for those who have served, helping participants build companionship, purpose, and emotional support through the human–canine bond.
