Jason Futch
reporter2.riverbendnews@gmail.com
Heather Henderson-Scheu, who has served as the deputy director of the Suwannee County Sheriff's Office's Emergency Management Division, has been promoted to Director of the division following the resignation of former Director Chris Volz. Volz accepted a position with Verizon Frontline as the Director of the Crisis Response Team.
During the transition, Volz wants the community to be aware that everything the agency has focused on for the last two years will continue under Henderson-Scheu's leadership. "Heather has the expertise, the training, the connections. Everything she needs to lead," Volz said. "She is absolutely prepared to do anything that needs to be done in this role." He intends to assist Henderson-Scheu during the transition phase and will serve as a reserve deputy with the SCSO.
"I am excited, but also nervous, because I have big shoes to fill," Henderson-Scheu said. "I'm grateful for what [Volz] has taught me, and the people I surround myself with are great. They are great mentors."
Henderson-Scheu began working with the Emergency Management Division in 2023, serving as assistant director under Volz, following years of service as the SCSO's finance director. When she began serving as the deputy director, Hurricane Idalia arrived, causing widespread destruction in Suwannee County. It was an eye-opening experience for Henderson-Scheu.
"During the first week or so of Idalia, I just picked up my bootstraps and helped where I could," she said. Born and raised in Suwannee County, Henderson-Scheu was able to offer local resources to assist with the hurricanes. "Mutual aid would come in and give me stuff, and I would be like, 'Oh yeah, I know that person, let me make a phone call,’" Not only was Henderson-Scheu the Emergency Management Deputy Director, but she was also considered a liaison due to her resourcefulness during an active emergency. After Idalia, she was bitten by the "EM bug," and loves working in the field. "I didn't even know this was a career, and I absolutely love my job," she said.
Now leading the Emergency Management Division, Henderson-Scheu hopes to increase community awareness of the agency's work and plans to conduct more hurricane preparedness presentations at school and library events, as well as civic organizations. "We really can't do our job just sitting behind a desk all day, every day," she said. "Our job is more about getting to know those people who can come help the residents or to send state assets or anything like that.”
Henderson-Scheu also plans to attend conferences, which will help build on the mutual aid contacts she has already established since serving in the deputy director role during three major hurricanes. The week of Monday, July 21, she will be attending the Florida Emergency Preparedness Association conference in Cape Coral, Fla., and will mentor a group of girls for a weeklong camp in Walton County called "HERricane Florida, Landfall," hosted by the Walton County Division of Emergency Management, from Tuesday, July 29, through Friday, Aug. 1. The camp is designed for young women entering grades seven through nine for the 2025 school year, where skills such as disaster preparedness, leadership, networking tools, career exploration, professional development, and confidence building are shared. Henderson-Scheu said her participation in the camp is her way of giving back to those who have assisted Suwannee County before, during and after the storms, including Walton County, which provided significant help in storm preparation and cleanup last year.
As a division of the SCSO, both Henderson-Scheu and Volz emphasized the importance of the partnership, which enables them to access more resources through grant funding and other crucial emergency management resources, not only at the state level but also at the national level. Suwannee County is one of 16 counties in the state operated by the county sheriff's office, which offers integrated law enforcement expertise, faster response and coordination, and streamlined coordination between state and federal agencies, among other resources, according to Volz.
While Henderson-Scheu takes the reins and prepares for the 2025 hurricane season, Volz reflects on the four and a half years he served Suwannee County as the emergency management director. "I consider myself blessed," he said. "Two years of unprecedented disaster response in this county, the community has never seen before. And we've been able to, as a team, work together."
To learn more about emergency management, how to prepare for emergencies, or ask a question, contact Henderson-Scheu at (386) 364-3755 or email Heather.Henderson@SuwanneeSheriff.com.