Intentionally Making a Difference Part Two – 2024 Compassionate Advocacy
Intentionally Making a Difference Part Two – 2024 Compassionate Advocacy
Tracey and I have continued our journey to support those who struggle with suicidal ideation and/or attempts and their impacted families. We have also added suicide loss survivors and survivors of murder-suicide to our A Voice at the Table/Impacted Family & Friends Movement.
In early October 2024, I knew we had a couple of new resource workbooks coming out and was tossing around how to best spotlight them. And there it was on the calendar: Saturday, October 26th: National Make a Difference Day, 16 years after our teen center opened.
With very short notice, Tracey and I scheduled a series of 30-minute livestreams, delivered across 8 hours.
From Grief Support to Highway Billboards:
Steve Palm, founder of The Kacie Palm Project, a Taunton-based nonprofit, discussed the value & importance to him of the Kitchen Table Conversation suicide grief support gatherings as a loss survivor. It helped end the sense of aloneness and isolation. Steve also took the initiative to reserve a digital billboard on a highway in Southeastern MA in 2023 and again in 2024, to carry important positive You Matter messaging around suicide prevention. The 2024 series rotated pictures of 14 young people who have died by suicide with the reminder that suicide is still the 2nd leading cause of death for youth ages 15 to 24. It’s amazing how many people hear that and say, “I didn’t know that.”
Also in this livestream, Tracey read excerpts from her resource workbook Because I Stayed (2023), dedicated to suicide ideation & attempt survivors. BIS is appropriate for grades 5 and up to elders.
Compassionate Advocacy Within Mental Health & Wellness
Dr. Pata Suyemoto delivered another session sharing her lived experience as an attempt survivor, loss survivor and impacted family member through the lenses of her work within the Massachusetts Coalition for Suicide Prevention as well as NAAPIMHA (National Asian American Pacific Islander Mental Health Association and NAAPIEN
National Asian American Pacific Islander Empowerment Network.
Introduction to the Murder-Suicide Network: Support for Life’s Journey After Loss
A third livestream was presented by members of the Murder-Suicide Loss Survivors Network, Connie Harrington, Jenna Howe, and Mitch Maryanov. Their sharing was powerful and introduced their online network, www.mslnetwork.org