2026 Marsha Giesler CRR Award Recipient: Bill Sterling of the Romeoville Fire Department

Bill recognized early that meaningful community risk reduction extends far beyond traditional fire prevention. It requires understanding the unique risks and needs within a community, developing partnerships, removing barriers to assistance, and creating programs that prevent emergencies or lessen their impact before they occur. That philosophy has driven Bill to develop and champion numerous initiatives, including Baby Sitter training, the department's annual Youth Fire & Life Safety Camp, Citizens Fire Academy, R.E.A.C.T. (Respond, Educate, Act, Contain, Train), and, most notably, Romeoville C.A.R.E.S. (Community Assistance, Resources & Emergency Support). 

Each of these programs addresses a different component of community risk. While programs such as the Youth Camp, Citizens Fire Academy, and Safe Sitter training focus on education and prevention, Bill also recognized the need to engage businesses and community leaders in emergency preparedness. 

That recognition led to the development of R.E.A.C.T., a collaborative initiative between the Romeoville Fire Department, Romeoville Emergency Management Agency, and Romeoville Police Department. R.E.A.C.T. was designed to provide practical emergency preparedness education to supervisors and managers of Romeoville businesses, regardless of their size. The program addresses fire safety and prevention, medical emergencies, emergency response procedures, hostile events and workplace violence, severe weather, and other threats that businesses may encounter. All of this training is offered for free. 

Rather than relying on a one-size-fits-all presentation, R.E.A.C.T. was developed as a modular program that can be adapted to the individual needs and schedules of participating businesses. This approach brings preparedness directly into the workplace and gives business leaders practical knowledge they can use when an emergency occurs. It is an example of Bill's ability to identify an underserved audience, bring multiple public-safety disciplines together, and create an innovative and accessible solution. 

The focal point of this nomination, however, is Romeoville C.A.R.E.S. 

C.A.R.E.S. represents a fundamental shift in how our organization approaches community risk. Firefighters and paramedics routinely encounter residents whose underlying needs cannot be solved by traditional emergency response.

We may stabilize the immediate emergency, but the circumstances that contributed to the 911 call such as financial hardship, social-service needs, an unsafe living situation, lack of access to resources, or another barrier may remain time and time again after our apparatus leaves. 

For years, the fire service has struggled with a simple question in these situations: Where do we send someone when 911 was the right number to call, but an ambulance, fire engine, or police officer is not the complete solution? 

Under Bill's leadership, Romeoville C.A.R.E.S. is becoming our answer. 

In approximately one year, the program has evolved from an emerging concept into a coordinated community-support system. Bill has worked to create a mechanism through which needs identified by first responders can be assessed, connected with appropriate resources, and followed through rather than simply referred elsewhere. 

The Village of Romeoville has since established a dedicated funding mechanism that allows residents to voluntarily contribute through their water bills to help fellow residents during times of need. The program has also received support from businesses and corporate sponsors, creating a community-supported model in which residents, local government, public safety, and the business community can collectively help reduce risk for vulnerable members of the community. 

The program's rapid success has led to an even greater organizational commitment. The Village expanded the scope of C.A.R.E.S. and entered into a partnership with a social-service organization, providing police and fire personnel access to a social worker who can respond when appropriate and provide follow-up assistance to residents after an incident. 

This multidisciplinary approach is where C.A.R.E.S. demonstrates the true innovation of Bill's work. Rather than viewing every call solely through the lens of emergency response, the program asks a different question: What can we do to address the underlying problem that brought this resident into contact with public safety in the first place? 

C.A.R.E.S. creates a bridge between emergency response and long-term problem solving. Aresident's interaction with the fire or police department can now become an entry point to a broader network of assistance. Instead of simply identifying a problem and leaving residents to navigate a complicated system on their own, C.A.R.E.S. works to remove those barriers and connect residents with meaningful solutions.

Bill's leadership is hands-on. He does not simply administer the program from behind a desk. On a weekly basis, Bill meets directly with residents, listens to their circumstances, helps identify solutions, coordinates resources, and works alongside community partners to address their needs. That personal involvement has helped tum C.A.R.E.S. from an idea into a functioning program with genuine community impact. 

The success of the initiative has also influenced our organization itself. Recognizing both the growing need and the effectiveness of Bill's work, the department transitioned him into an administrative role that provides greater opportunity to oversee these efforts and address the needs identified within our community on an ongoing basis. 

What makes Bill deserving of this nomination is not simply the number of programs he has helped create. It is his willingness to challenge the traditional boundaries of what a fire department can do to reduce risk. 

Bill has helped move our organization from asking, "How do we respond to this emergency?" to also asking, "Why did this emergency occur, what does this resident need, and what can we do to prevent the next one?" 

That philosophy is at the heart of Community Risk Reduction. 

Through R.E.A.C.T., C.A.R.E.S., and his other initiatives, Bill has demonstrated innovation, collaboration, leadership, and an exceptional commitment to the residents we serve. Most importantly, he has helped create sustainable systems that allow our department and our community partners to identify needs, remove barriers, connect residents with resources, and reduce risk in ways that traditional emergency response alone cannot accomplish. 

His passion, creativity, and determination have transformed an emerging CRR effort into an expanding community-wide initiative, and I believe his work represents an outstanding example of what modem Community Risk Reduction can accomplish.