Wife Brande works for State Farm Agent Ann Price in Duluth, GA. Her customer interactions help families find solutions that protect what’s important to them.

Husband Tommy is a Deputy with the Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Department in the DUI, Drug, and Veteran’s Treatment Courts. He protects the public by helping people better themselves rather than re-offend. His job is not without risks and Brande recognizes that.

“When people are angry about being in jail they have nothing but time to think of ways to hurt him,” she said. “There have been a couple of instances where I wanted him to change jobs."

To help provide peace of mind to first responder families like the Maloys, State Farm teamed up with the home security company Canary to launch Protect the Protectors. The program donates Canary devices to first responders so they can watch activity in their homes through a smartphone.

“We want to acknowledge first responders for the work they do and dangers they face,” said John Carter, head of communication for Canary. “There’s a person behind the badge and they have families.”

Brande proudly joined 29 State Farm Agents at a September event where home monitoring devices were provided to Gwinnett County sheriff deputies.

“As the wife of a law enforcement officer, I have a heightened awareness of the high risks police face on the job. The donation of the Canary devices was gracious and falls in line with our (State Farm) focus on helping life go right.”

Tommy also praised the program.

“Being able to check my phone and see my home and family while I am at work is great,” he said. “The kids may not like it, but I do.”

Extending the Protection

During the very first Protect the Protectors event in December 2015, 400 home monitoring devices were donated to Allentown, PA first responders. Protect the Protectors has since donated more than 5,000 home monitoring devices to police and fire departments.

State Farm employee Josh Boyd volunteered to help distribute devices to more than 300 Irving, TX police officers. It was a special honor for Josh, his dad, Larry, served the citizens of Irving for 12 years as police chief before retiring in 2016.

“At one point my dad stopped being a police officer because my mom was too scared,” Josh said. “But he went back because that’s what he’s passionate about. Officers face risk every day and I am pleased the company I work for has chosen to appreciate them.”

Learn more

To learn more about a Canary special offer for State Farm customers, visit the State Farm Home Protection & Automation website. Homeowners and renters may qualify for the Local Burglar Alarm discount level under the State Farm Home Alert Protection Discount. No documentation of installation is required. Availability and terms of discounts vary by state. Contact a State Farm agent for details.

Imagine you're a teenager. You want to hang out with your friends, but you have to go home, clean the house, cook dinner and take care of your sick parent or family member. It's a lot. You want to do it. You love them and you’d do anything for them. But still, you're just a teen.  An assist here and there would be nice...

I'll help with your appointment.

I’m cooking tonight! I did the laundry, dishes and cleaned the house today.

I love you mom! I’m always here for you!

These are commonly heard statements in the Cuco house. Dianne and Tanya Cuco have been caring for their mom since her leukemia diagnosis in 2008.

“It was so hard. Our dad left the house one year before my mom got ill,” says Dianne. “At first, my older sister and I didn’t know what to do.”

They quickly learned to care for their mom even while they were going to school and work. Both sisters do housework. They give their mom medication and take her to buy groceries.

Tanya is now a college sophomore studying to be a radiologist. Dianne, a ninth-grader, wants to be a veterinarian or marine biologist someday.

“Hopefully I can do something bigger for my mom when I grow up, like buy her a house,” says Dianne.

Caregiving youth, like Dianne and Tanya, help their relatives deal with physical or mental illness or disability. This help is significant and often on a daily basis, according to the American Association of Caregiving Youth (AACY), a support organization for youth and their families.

These eight to 18-year-olds often forgo their education, health, and childhood to take on the responsibilities of an adult caregiver.

For children in ethnic-minority families, things can be even more complicated. Sometimes they are the only English-speakers in the family. They often miss school to serve as translators for family doctor appointments.

These heavy responsibilities can cause them to fall behind in school. They sometimes struggle with feelings of isolation and anxiety. 

Carmella Keim was five when her mom was diagnosed with a brain illness that affects her balance.

“I help give her medicine, clean around the house, and also help my dad cook,” says Carmella. She is a freshman now at Florida Atlantic University studying to be a schoolteacher.

State Farm and ADT are supporting these children and their families. They are helping relieve anxiety through AACY's Caregiving Youth Stress Reduction Project. It provides a source of 24/7 live communication for ill or disabled family members. This allows the youth caregiver to focus on school and socialization.

“I’m so glad my mom now has the medical alert bracelet,” says Tanya. "Before having it, she felt insecure and scared to be home alone. Now my sister and I have peace of mind while we are at school or work. We know she can get help if she falls down.”

“The medical alert pendant allows my daughter and husband to leave the house without worrying about me falling,” says Denise Keim. “Thanks to State Farm, ADT and AACY, my daughter is finally getting the freedom and childhood she deserves.”

ADT is the nation’s leading provider of home security services. They are donating ADT Medical Alert monitoring devices to 100 AACY client families. AACY selects families and works with ADT to provide the appropriate device at no cost. State Farm is covering monitoring service costs for one year for all 100 families.

State Farm also offers connected care options and customer discounts on select ADT products. This helps meet the unique needs of customers in caregiving situations. For more information, visit statefarm.com.

It was a cold March day in Owasco, New York but Lynn Smith’s heart was warm with love. Like most grandparents, there is nothing more special than spending time with her grandchildren.

Her daughter Kelly came up for the weekend from New York City with her girls, Olivia, four, and baby Mila, 10 months. Lynn’s son, Stephen, who lives nearby, came with his three girls. It was a packed house.

Lynn turned on the portable heater in the back bedroom where baby Mila would sleep since it was so cold outside. Everyone went to bed exhausted after a long day of driving and playing.

At 2:00 a.m. Kelly woke up to baby Mila crying. She went into the back bedroom, scooped up Mila, and brought her into bed. Both fell back to sleep.

At 5:30 a.m. Lynn was half awake when she heard the hallway smoke detector. She initially thought the battery was low but at the same time the ADT smoke alarm was going off. It got louder and louder.

Lynn jumped out of bed and ran to the room with the portable heater. There was a chemical smell in the air. Lynn’s daughter Kelly woke up too. At first she wasn’t worried but then her mom came bursting into the bedroom.

Kelly ran into the room where baby Mila had been sleeping and saw the portable heater was on fire. The flames were already a foot high.

Kelly had Mila in her arms and ran into the room where her daughter Olivia was sleeping. She woke up Olivia, grabbed her hand, and made it out of the front door. Kelly’s eyes were stinging from the smoke but the family was out of the house safely.

Nearly 800 miles away, ADT Dispatcher Amanda Willoughby started her 4 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. shift at ADT’s Knoxville, TN monitoring center. Her job requires her to be calm and ready to assist customers should a monitor go off.

At approximately 5:30 a.m. she received an alarm notification from the ADT system at the home of Lynn Smith. She immediately contacted the fire department to report an emergency.

At the same time Kelly was calling 911 to report the fire, Lynn received an incoming call.

“This is Amanda with ADT security. Is everything okay there?”

Amanda asked if everybody was out of the house and informed Lynn the fire department would arrive shortly. Within minutes, Owasco Fire Department trucks and ambulances were on scene. Thanks to the quick response, the fire only had time to scorch the bedroom carpet and blacken the walls in half the house.

Being Thankful

“We could have slept through it. The smoke could have killed us,” shared Lynn.

State Farm Agent Ray Haynes was also thankful too. As an insurance agent, he knows how devastating a fire can be for a homeowner and was very relieved his customer Lynn and her family were safe.

On April 22, 2016, six weeks after the fire, ADT held an event at Smith's home. ADT presented the company's highest honor, the LifeSaver Award, to Willoughby and the technicians who installed the home's alarm system. The company flew Willoughby in from Knoxville, TN so she could not only accept the award, but also meet Lynn Smith personally.

ADT and State Farm representatives presented $10,000 to the Owasco Fire Department for its efforts that day. Fire Chief Chris Morabito said the grant will fund the purchase of an air compressor to fill firefighters' bottles before they enter dangerous environments like the one at the Smith home.

"Every two and a half hours, someone in America dies in a house fire," Morabito said at the event. "Smoke detectors are a definite need in every house. If you can hook it up to a center like ADT that makes it even better because you know you're getting somebody to call you back and make sure everything is good."

To learn more about an ADT special offer for State Farm customers, visit the ADT Home Security website or State Farm Home Protection & Automation. Homeowners and renters may qualify for the Home Alert Protection Discount. Contact your State Farm agent for details.

Check out the ADT blog about Lynn’s story.

Mike Bennett was at dinner when he got a Canary alert showing an intruder in his home. He quickly called the police. Mike arrived before the police and scared the burglar, who dropped Mike's belongings as he fled. The officer was able to get a screen-grab of perpetrator's face from the video and quickly shared it with other officers in the area, leading to capture and arrest.

Sound like a movie scene? Mike's story demonstrates that technology continues to advance daily. What were once movie scenes set in the future, have now become reality.

"People would see this technology and say 'I can't afford that, it's for people over there', says State Farm Agent DeAnn Mathison. But the popularity is rising and now it's in many people's price point. The systems are easy to use and people feel like they can have it too."

More and more customers are signing up for these programs. Mike McShea in Indianapolis was also able to stop a burglary in his home.

"Canary alerted me and allowed me time to get the police to my house to catch the guys. I was then able to download the video and share it with the detective at the scene once I arrived home," McShea said. "The police said the footage was fantastic. They asked a few times what the name of the camera was so they could get one for their own houses!"

What is Home Automation?

Home automation is the use of one or more computers to control basic home functions and features automatically, sometimes even remotely.

Vital home functions can be controlled remotely from anywhere in the world using a computer connected to the Internet. This can include the scheduling and automatic operation of sprinklers, heating and air conditioning, security systems, lighting, and food preparation appliances or remote control of telephones and home robots, such as automatic vacuum cleaners.

The term often used to describe dwellings with these features is "smart home".

Some companies, like Canary, provide a home security device that consumers can set up in their homes within minutes. There are also companies like ADT that wire your home for home security and communication.

They all provide some level of security, peace of mind, and possibly insurance discounts. Click here for details.