Graham launches monthly First Responder Fridays to connect residents, staff

Graham will bring police officers, firefighters and parks staff to Avalon Acres on Friday, April 17, as First Responder Fridays begins another season of neighborhood visits across the city. The monthly outreach is open to all ages, free of charge, and built around direct contact between residents and the City of Graham Fire Department, the Graham Police Department and Recreation & Parks staff.

City materials say the events run on the third Friday of each month from April through September, typically from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. The format is designed to put city staff in front of families where they live, with the FRF team sometimes arriving with police and fire vehicles and the Park & Play Mobile Recreation Van. Southern Alamance Family Empowerment, known as S.A.F.E. Food Ministry, also joins some events to share information about its community programs.

The 2026 schedule shows the series moving through several Graham neighborhoods and apartment communities. After Avalon Acres, the city lists Forks of Alamance for Friday, May 29, Watercourse Apartments, 1020 Watercourse Circle, for Friday, June 19, and Waterside Apartments for Friday, Aug. 14. The recurring stops give residents a chance to meet public-safety staff without going downtown, while also giving parents and children a close look at the vehicles and equipment that usually appear only during emergencies.

The city has kept the program going for years and has adjusted the format along the way. An archive of earlier events shows First Responder Fridays in 2022 and 2023 at Oakley Street Park, Graham Housing Authority, Bill Cooke Park, South Graham Park and Watercourse Apartments. A 2024 event listing also shows the city temporarily changed the meeting time that season to 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., suggesting the department has fine-tuned the schedule to fit neighborhood needs.

Emma Griffin, programs supervisor for Recreation & Parks, is listed as the contact for the program at (336) 513-5510. First Responder Fridays now sits alongside Graham Walks, Coffee & Conversation: Haw River Trail and Arts Around the Square as one of the department’s core community programs, making the series part of Graham’s broader effort to keep public services visible at the neighborhood level.