Area residents who have lost someone to suicide will gather Nov. 20 to find support and to honor their loved ones at the 12th Annual National Survivors of Suicide Day sponsored by the Portage County Suicide Prevention Coalition.
“What we know is that every 16 minutes someone in the United States dies by suicide and every 17 minutes someone is left to understand the loss. There have been more than 20 suicides this year in Portage County which, sadly, is close to a new record. Our mission is to continue to educate our community about the causes and to provide support,” said Paul Dages, coalition coordinator and emergency services coordinator at Townhall II.
The free event runs from 12:45 p.m. to 3 p.m. at the Sue Hetrick Building of Coleman Professional Services, 3922 Lovers Lane, Ravenna. Other sponsors are Coleman Access, located in the Hetrick Building, and the Mental Health & Recovery Board of Portage County.
Coleman Access will be one of 260 simultaneous conferences for survivors of suicide loss taking place throughout the U.S. and around the world. At each site participants will watch a special 90-minute broadcast by the American Foundation of Suicide Prevention. AFSP is a national not-for-profit organization dedicated to understanding and preventing suicide through research, education and advocacy and to reaching out to people with mental disorders and those impacted by suicide.
In the U.S., conference locations will show the broadcast from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. At the Portage County site, the group will follow up with a discussion about the broadcast. The discussion will be led by psychologist Dr. Joel Mowrey, associate director of the Mental Health & Recovery Board of Portage County; Becky Dempster, chief officer of Coleman Access and a suicide survivor; and survivor and advocate Iris Angle of Aurora.
“We have a very low key approach. Survivors can share what they are able or just listen. For some it is the first time they are able to tap into a support system of others who have experienced the same devastating loss,” said Mowrey.
Walk-ins are welcome but pre-registering is recommended. To sign up, call Mowrey at 330-673-1756, ext. 203, or email him at joelm@mental-health-recovery.org.
Persons who cannot attend the Ravenna event that day can watch the free live webcast from 1-2:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time and participate in a live online chat immediately following. The site address is www.afsp.org. Registration is required from your home computer. The webcast will be saved on the AFSP site so that survivors can watch it again throughout the year at anytime. Past webcasts are also available for viewing.
The Portage County Suicide Prevention Coalition was established in 2005 by local human services agencies to provide education about preventing suicide, eliminating the stigma surrounding suicide and supporting survivors, those persons who have someone close to them who completes suicide. Any interested person is welcome to join the coalition which meets at 3 p.m. on the third Thursday of the month at the MHRB, 155 E. Main St., Kent. Call Dages at 330-678-3006 for more information.
Go to the MRHB Web site at www.mental-health-recovery.org to find information on local resources for persons seeking help to prevent a suicide.
Area residents who have lost someone to suicide will gather Nov. 20 to find support and to honor their loved ones at the 12th Annual National Survivors of Suicide Day sponsored by the Portage County Suicide Prevention Coalition.“What we know is that every 16 minutes someone in the United States dies by suicide and every 17 minutes someone is left to understand the loss. There have been more than 20 suicides this year in Portage County which, sadly, is close to a new record. Our mission is to continue to educate our community about the causes and to provide support,” said Paul Dages, coalition coordinator and emergency services coordinator at Townhall II.The free event runs from 12:45 p.m. to 3 p.m. at the Sue Hetrick Building of Coleman Professional Services, 3922 Lovers Lane, Ravenna. Other sponsors are Coleman Access, located in the Hetrick Building, and the Mental Health & Recovery Board of Portage County.Coleman Access will be one of 260 simultaneous conferences for survivors of suicide loss taking place throughout the U.S. and around the world. At each site participants will watch a special 90-minute broadcast by the American Foundation of Suicide Prevention. AFSP is a national not-for-profit organization dedicated to understanding and preventing suicide through research, education and advocacy and to reaching out to people with mental disorders and those impacted by suicide.In the U.S., conference locations will show the broadcast from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. At the Portage County site, the group will follow up with a discussion about the broadcast. The discussion will be led by psychologist Dr. Joel Mowrey, associate director of the Mental Health & Recovery Board of Portage County; Becky Dempster, chief officer of Coleman Access and a suicide survivor; and survivor and advocate Iris Angle of Aurora.“We have a very low key approach. Survivors can share what they are able or just listen. For some it is the first time they are able to tap into a support system of others who have experienced the same devastating loss,” said Mowrey.Walk-ins are welcome but pre-registering is recommended. To sign up, call Mowrey at 330-673-1756, ext. 203, or email him at joelm@mental-health-recovery.org.Persons who cannot attend the Ravenna event that day can watch the free live webcast from 1-2:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time and participate in a live online chat immediately following. The site address is www.afsp.org. Registration is required from your home computer. The webcast will be saved on the AFSP site so that survivors can watch it again throughout the year at anytime. Past webcasts are also available for viewing.The Portage County Suicide Prevention Coalition was established in 2005 by local human services agencies to provide education about preventing suicide, eliminating the stigma surrounding suicide and supporting survivors, those persons who have someone close to them who completes suicide. Any interested person is welcome to join the coalition which meets at 3 p.m. on the third Thursday of the month at the MHRB, 155 E. Main St., Kent. Call Dages at 330-678-3006 for more information.Go to the MRHB Web site at www.mental-health-recovery.org to find information on local resources for persons seeking help to prevent a suicide.
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