Apr 30, 2026 — Kristen Christy: Resilience, 988 & the Power of Community

Bulletin for April 30, 2026

Featured Speaker: Kristen Christy

Master Resilience Trainer, Co-Creator of 988 & International Speaker — Resilience, 988 & the Power of Community

OPENING

Club business was conducted before the presentation.

CLUB BUSINESS

• Membership: The club now has 34 members on the roster as of April 30, 2026. Heidi and Ryan McWilliams were officially approved as new members. Brad Buetow, Colorado College hockey coach, has submitted a membership application. Dues in arrears deferred for a later discussion.

• Board updates: The board finalized the menu for the 80th Anniversary dinner (Chicken Saltimbocca and Salmon). A grant to support student art tours in District 2 was approved on a pilot basis. The board voted to remove the online membership application and grant request forms from the club's website, to encourage a more personal, sponsorship-based approach.

• 80th Anniversary Celebration: June 30, 2026 at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. Cost is $80 per person.

• Sleep in Heavenly Peace Bed Build: A charity event to build beds for children in need — date to be confirmed.

• Lower Arkansas Valley Water Tour: July 29, 2026 — a field trip to study water conservation issues in the region.

• Finance: A price arbitrage opportunity in silver was noted. Discussion about for-sale signs appearing in the Broadmoor area and what it signals about market conditions.

• Personal: Eric announced the birth of his great-grandson.

KEYNOTE: KRISTEN CHRISTY — RESILIENCE, 988 & THE POWER OF COMMUNITY

About Kristen

Kristen is a lifelong military family member, Air Force and Army Master Resilience Trainer, international speaker, best-selling author, and co-creator of 988 — the national Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. She is also co-founder of the National Veterans Vocational Village. Her awards include the 2018 Air Force Spouse of the Year, the Force for Change Award, and the Mighty Twenty-Five Challenge Maker Award.

Since its launch on July 16, 2022, the 988 Lifeline has received more than 17 million calls and text messages — including over 22 million contacts through the end of 2024.

A Life of Trials and Lessons

At 15, just days before her 16th birthday, Kristen beat Steffi Graf (then ranked 98th in the world) in tennis — and won the American high school golf championship in Germany the following week, beating the top-ranked boy by five strokes. Six days after the 1983 Beirut Marine barracks bombing, she suffered a massive stroke caused by a congenital AVM, leaving her completely paralyzed on her right side. It took a year and a half to walk again. She learned to write left-handed. Scholarships to Stanford, UT, and Nebraska were rescinded.

She earned a full-ride scholarship to UT Austin for her disability, where she met Don Christie at ROTC. They married five months later. She embedded deeply in community life beyond base, a habit she credits for her resilience.

In April 2008, three days before pinning on colonel, Don died by suicide — leaving behind two sons aged 12 and 14. Two years later, two days after her oldest son's second suicide attempt — and a poor 911/first responder experience — Kristen conceived the idea of a three-digit mental health number. She spent twelve years advancing the idea across the Obama and Trump administrations, despite constant rejection.

The 988 Lifeline went live July 16, 2022. Bittersweet, but world-changing.

Kristen's older son has been missing for over ten and a half years. She prays Ryan is on the side of heaven, and she uses that grief to fuel her advocacy for others.

Key Lessons and Frameworks

• Identity is about who you are, not what you do — resilience is learned, curated, and shared.

• "I am giving someone the opportunity to help me." — reframing asking for help.

• NO = Next Opportunity. Using fresh eyes to help others find their next step. Example: a 19-year-old former D1 football player who had a stroke was placed as a volunteer coach for a 2nd-grade peewee team — restoring purpose.

• FLY = First Love Yourself. The Air Force's Fly-Fight-Win reframed for daily life. Everyone has 1,440 minutes a day — allocate some of them intentionally for yourself.

• JOMO over FOMO: Joy Of Missing Out. Set boundaries. Say no to battery-draining commitments. Give others their Next Opportunity.

• FAIL = First (or Further) Attempt In Learning. Fail forward, fail fast — with community as your safety net.

• FEAR = False Evidence Appearing Real. Don't aim to be fearless — aim to fear less. Growth happens outside the comfort zone, away from the "itty bitty shitty committee" of self-limiting beliefs.

• PTS = Post-Traumatic Strength. Trauma is not limited to combat. Repeated trials strengthen the "heart muscle" — just like any muscle after breakdown and recovery.

• Career vs. Calling: What you're paid for vs. what you're made for. Kristen's non-profit work includes developing a device to help paraplegics fly helicopters.

The logo she uses features an exclamation point between a birth date and a death date — symbolizing the life lived between them. The sunrise colors represent a new day over "purple mountain majesty" — Pikes Peak.

Interactive Exercise

Members anonymously wrote down their current personal struggles. Common themes: worrying about a family member, self-confidence in group settings, maintaining weight, essential tremors, letting go of control, negative self-talk, not enough hours in the day, impatience, and spreading too thin. Others noted striving for deeper faith or asking "Am I enough?" The takeaway: you are not alone.

ACTION ITEMS

• Email the updated member roster to be attached to the next meeting's agenda.

• Book a speaker for July 30, 2026 (the Thursday following the water tour).

• Verify the correct date for a recently booked speaker.

CONCLUSION

As Dan Brown put it: "Sometimes a change of perspective is all it takes to see the light." Kristen gave us more than a change of perspective — she gave us a new vocabulary for facing whatever comes next.

If you or someone you know is struggling, call or text 988.

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The Pikes Peak Club · pikespeakclub.com