Those who have seen Dwayne Hopkins counsel trauma victims describe his compassion as though it were a physical force.

“He is just truly so gifted. There is a strength behind his compassion that is just so palpable. You can feel it in the room. He sends a signal to the person in need that it is going to be OK,” said Avery Jenkins, program manager for the Trauma Intervention Program.

Hopkins has used his ability to counsel people in many capacities – as a pastor at the Coastal Community Church, as a reserve police officer and chaplain for Scarborough’s police and fire departments, and as a volunteer for the Trauma Intervention Program, which assists victims of fires and accidents.

Hopkins will be honored for his work Feb. 15 at the Heroes with Heart awards dinner and silent auction at the Holiday Inn by the Bay in Portland. He will receive a Heroes with Heart award at the dinner, which is sponsored by the Community Counseling Center and Trauma Intervention Program. Hopkins will be among six people who will receive the award, which recognizes those who have shown compassion and kindness to people in tragic situations.

Yet, even as he receives the award, Hopkins is quietly enduring his own health crisis.

Jenkins witnessed Hopkins’ ability to counsel people when the two of them responded to a suicide in a Scarborough home. She and Hopkins stood outside the home with a family member as Jenkins prepared to go inside.

“Dwayne said something to the family member that I’d never heard before,” said Jenkins. “He said ‘There are people who can support and help you through this, but the thing that no one can take away is what you’re going to see when you walk through that door. We can walk with you, but you have to make that decision on your own.’ What he said was so true and so powerful.”

Since he moved to Maine with his wife and three sons in 1999 to serve as pastor of the Wesleyan denomination Coastal Community Church, Hopkins has made volunteer work a priority. Each week, Hopkins counsels and delivers services to the more than 150 members of his growing congregation, offers his moral and spiritual support to the Scarborough rescue squad and the citizens they assist and volunteers his time helping victims of traumatic events.

Scarborough police Officer Arthur Green has known Hopkins since he became the department’s chaplain in 2001. Green’s uncle is also a pastor with the Wesleyan ministry in Hopkins’ native New Brunswick.

When Green unexpectedly lost both his 35-year-old brother to a heart problem and his 20-year-old nephew to a motorcycle accident within the span of three months last year, Hopkins drove more than 250 miles to officiate both funerals.

“It’s just incredible to have someone like Dwayne, who is there to support others on both a professional and spiritual level,” Green said. “If you have anyone like Dwayne around, you certainly grab a hold of him. He’s become a part of our family in more ways than one.”

Almost everyone, it seems, has a story like Green’s. When volunteer police officer James Durant was killed in a car accident while directing traffic in Scarborough, Hopkins and police Chief Robert Moulton drove back to Scarborough overnight from a police officer’s graduation in Virginia.

“He was there for the family, he went to the funeral and the wake and counseled everyone through a very difficult time,” Moulton said.

Hopkins, 47, who was born in New Brunswick, Canada, grew up as the son of a pastor, and one of five brothers. After attending divinity school at Bethany Bible College in Florida, where Hopkins met his wife, Melodie, he spent a year as a pastor in Florida and then moved back to his native New Brunswick in 1998 with his wife and three sons.

Hopkins came to Maine in 1999 to become the pastor of the Coastal Community Church, located on Route 1 across the street from the town hall. “It was a great opportunity to give back to the community what I felt I could do best for them,” Hopkins said.

In 2001, Hopkins was invited to become the chaplain for Scarborough’s police, fire and rescue squad. The same year, Hopkins went through intensive training to become a reserve police officer. Hopkins’ first incident as the department’s chaplain and as a reserve officer was a shooting at a Scarborough’s Shop n’ Save, where Scarborough resident James Levier, a victim of child abuse at the Baxter School for the Deaf, attempted to bring attention to himself by pointing a rifle at police officers outside the store. Levier was shot by police in self defense.

“He rode in to the hospital right after the shooting, and would check in days after to make sure everyone was OK,” said Detective Ivan Ramsdell, one of the officers who fired at Levier. “He takes a big load off of us during a crisis, because there is a lot to do and not a lot of time.”

The Trauma Intervention Program in Maine began in January 2005, as a joint effort of the Community Counseling Center and Junior League of Portland, to provide immediate on-site support and counseling for victims of trauma incidents. Hopkins has been a volunteer with the program since August 2005, offering comfort and guidance to victims of car accidents, fires and unexpected deaths.

Gary Landry, a volunteer with the Trauma Intervention Program, was with Hopkins on his first call, a drowning at Wassamki Springs in Scarborough. “Dwayne helped the friends of the victim, who were the most frustrated because they couldn’t save him, but because of him I think they felt supported through that tough situation,” he said.

As Hopkins accepts the award for working with trauma victims this month, he is facing his own challenge. He was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma in November. Hopkins has now undergone the first of six chemotherapy treatments that he will need over the next four months.

“Fortunately, I have a strong support network from my family, friends, and community,” Hopkins said. “Everywhere I turn there is strong support.”

Despite his diagnosis, Hopkins isn’t slowing down. He will continue to work full time through his treatment and give his weekly services, as well as fulfill his reserve officer duties and volunteer with the Trauma Intervention Program.

“I know my body, and when it tells me to slow down, I will,” said Hopkins, who has competed in triathlons. “My faith is an absolute plus.”

Every Sunday, the Coastal Community Church is filled with the sounds of music, clapping, and Hopkins’ words. Music is an integral part of the church. At the front of the congregation hall is a stage surrounded by speakers, a keyboard, and a dozen guitars. Hopkins plays acoustic guitar in the church’s musical ensemble, while his sons Norman, 18, and Nathan, 15, play electric guitar alongside him.

Hopkins’ wife directs the church choir and frequently sings alongside her husband. She leads the choir in song as they are joined by the voices of the congregation.

The Rev. David Wigley, a Scarborough resident and retired pastor, attends the services at Coastal Community Church regularly. He’s known Hopkins five years. When Wigley’s wife had an aneurysm, Hopkins came to the hospital and stayed with them as she recuperated.

“He finds great joy in giving of himself and serving, and he never stops giving, he just keeps on going,” said Wigley. “He’s a man of tremendous faith, and it shows and rubs off on other people. He’s got me hooked. If I don’t get fed at a service, I don’t go back. But I keep getting fed, and I keep going back. I tell him, ‘You are blessed and you are a blessing.’ I call him my son.”

Last week Hopkins’ son Norman, a senior at Scarborough High School, shaved his head in honor of his father, who began chemotherapy treatments in January. Hopkins himself cut off all of his hair in 2002 and donated it to children with cancer, in memory of his father, who died from a brain tumor in 1997.

Hopkins is planning to attend the awards dinner this month just one day after his second chemotherapy treatment. His wife and his mother, who is coming down from New Brunswick, will be there, as well.

“The reward for generosity is not in the return, it’s in the heart,” Hopkins said. “Giving to others is a privilege.”

A CLOSER LOOK: Dwayne Hopkins will be honored at the Heroes with Heart awards dinner and silent auction Feb. 15 at the Holiday Inn by the Bay in Portland. Tickets cost $55 a person, $100 a couple or $500 for a table of 10, and can be purchased online at www.commcc.org/heroes or by calling Charlotte Gregorie at 874-1030, ext. 281.

Current photos 476.JPG – Pastor Hopkins delivers a sermon at Scarborough’s Coastal Community Church on Feb. 3Current photos 491.JPG – Pastor Hopkins plays guitar during the Coasal Community Church’s service on Feb. 3. surrounded by wife Melodie (right) and son Norman (left).