Mother raises money for suicide prevention awareness in honor of her daughter

LOGANSPORT — With tears in her eyes, Kailei Jarvis described her oldest daughter Serena.

"She was spitfire and moonbeams. She was just an amazing person," Jarvis said.

Serena died of suicide in March of 2020.

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Suicide is the second leading cause of death for Hoosiers between the ages of 10 and 34 years old. That's according to the most recent data from the Indiana Department of Health for 2022.

Renapalooza

Jarvis says Serena dealt with mental health issues since she was 9-years-old.

"We did everything we could. We put her in therapy. She had a few other attempts as well before this last one. We did residential treatment and everything we could. She was just doing so good the last two years. We did not see this coming at all," Jarvis said.

Renapalooza

Jarvis is now working to reduce the stigma around mental health issues and raise awareness for suicide prevention in Serena's honor.

"We wanted to make something that was to honor her, but also a conversation piece that way, if somebody sees it and they ask, what is that? Tattoo artist Matthew Hopkins said.

Renapalooza

Hopkins teamed up with Jarvis for the first Renapalooza event in Logansport 3 years ago.

Matthew tattooed animals, which Serena loved, and suicide prevention symbols like the semicolon. Which means, your story isn't over.

"You never know where a person is on a certain day, you know this person could be on the ledge and he sees or she sees the tattoo, and that simple conversation could save their life," Hopkins said.

The first event started small 17 tattoos raising 112 dollars. Last year, 27 tattoos and a silent auction raised 650 dollars.

Renapalooza

The money raised was donated to the Cass County Zero Suicide task force.

Renapalooza continues to grow. This year, the July 27th event is at a bigger venue, the State Theater in Logansport from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Renapalooza

"It's okay to not be okay and to seek help. All the time we ask people, hi, how are you? We attach a stigma to it, and many feel like it's awkward to talk about your mental health issues, and it shouldn't be. We shouldn't have that stigma," Jarvis said.

If you or someone you know needs help dial 988 to connect to the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.