Centre County Recognizes Importance of Suicide Prevention Efforts

Several events in September will highlight Suicide Awareness and Prevention Month in Centre County, but as a Jana Marie Foundation President Marisa Vicere notes, the work to support mental health is ongoing year-round.

Vicere founded the State College-based youth mental health organization in 2012, a year after her sister Jana Marie died by suicide at the age of 30.

"It's something that has affected our family in a lot of different ways — not just the physical loss of her, but also the lead up to that," Vicere told the Centre County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday. "And so mental health is something that we all have. It's something that we're all on a spectrum for, and we need to be making sure that we're increasing those protective factors so that we can really build supportive networks for our young people, for our neighbors, for our family members, for our older adults in our lives, for every single person that is out there."

The commissioners approved a proclamation declaring September as Suicide Awareness and Prevention Month, and Sept. 10th as Suicide Awareness and Prevention Day in Centre County.

Throughout the month, events are planned to provide resources, and importantly, hope for those who are struggling with depression and their loved ones.

"We need to be making sure that people are aware that there is help and there is hope," Vicere said. "We talk a lot about recovery when it comes to substance use. We see a lot of overlap between the two causes. But there's also hope for recovery when it comes to those thoughts of suicide. So this is something that the Jana Marie Foundation and many of our partners work on each and every day. And we have a lot of different ways to get involved during the month of September."

On Sept. 3, the Centre County Suicide Prevention Task Force will host a Suicide Prevention Rally from noon to 12:30 p.m. in front of the courthouse in Bellefonte. It will include speakers and live music by Jim Colbert.

"It's just a way to come out, learn about the resources, show our support for the safety networks that are out there, and to learn about some of the different initiatives that are happening in Centre County with all of the partners that are part of that Centre County Suicide Prevention Task Force."

The foundation's annual Evening of Hope, Healing and Remembrance will be held from 5 to 8 p.m. on World Suicide Prevention Day, Sept. 10, at the Boalsburg Fire Hall, 113. E. High St.

A candlelight remembrance ceremony and program featuring speakers and creative expression through music and dance aim to create public awareness, educate, remember those lost and give hope.

"It's a wonderful night to come together for those who've lost individuals to suicide, their support networks, really anyone from the public who wants to come out and help us end that stigma," said Hannah Brewster, Jana Marie Foundation operations manager. "We'll have live music. speakers, typically we have members of the community who come out and dance, other forms of creative expression, just to show that support and show again that we can grieve together but also find hope together and brings awareness to those resources."

On Sept. 12, Eagle Scout candidate Connor McGinnis has organized A Teen's Night in Music from 6:30 to 10 p.m. at the Boal Barn Playhouse in Boalsburg. The youth-led concert, which is part of McGinnis' Eagle Scout project, will celebrate the power of music as a healing tool and will benefit the Jana Marie Foundation.

Admission is free, but donations are appreciated.

"It should be a really uplifting evening that really showcases a lot of the talent that we have young people in our community," Vicere said.

Beyond September, Jana Marie Foundation offers evidenced-based education and training throughout the year.

Those include QPR — Question, Persuade, Refer — suicide prevention, a 90-minute course offered for free virtually.

The foundation also recently began offering Counseling on Access to Lethal Means, or CALM, trainings, which according to its website "is a practical intervention to increase the time and distance between individuals at risk of suicide and the most common and lethal methods of suicide."

"We want to make sure that people are aware of ways that we can keep our environment safe, whether that be with guns that we might have in our home for hunting or other purposes, as well as medications," Vicere said. "So we're working very closely with the [Heroin and Opioid Prevention and Education] Initiative, trying to make sure people are aware of conversations
that we can have that can increase that safety and environment."

Several versions of Mental Health First Aid training are also made available through the foundation and range from four and a half to seven hours in length.

"It's great because it looks at mental health overall and looks at those early worsening and crisis symptoms and signs, and then ways that we can engage in each one of those areas to really help someone who might be going through that difficult time," Vicere said.

The teen version of the program is offered to ninth- and 10th-grade students in the Bald Eagle, Bellefonte, Penns Valley and State College school districts, as well as several districts in surrounding counties.

Commissioner Amber Concepcion stressed the importance of educating youth about warning signs, and of providing support for survivors.

"Our family was touched by this really closely this year when our dear friends lost their little girl to suicide earlier this May, and you could see the ripple effects of that were significant," Concepcion said. "And ... in having conversations with my daughter and other kids who were close to the daughter who was lost in our community, it's really important for them to know, for kids to know, even from a young age, some of the warning signs of mental health needs, and what the steps are that they can take, even when they're kids. Who can they call, that there is help there and that there's people to reach out to. And I think you provide that and that help is in our schools as well and we need kids to know where, what those routes are."

Commissioner Mark Higgins also pointed to the 988 Suicide and Crisis Line, which is available nationwide.

"There is now some funding from the state of Pennsylvania to ensure that when you call that number, there is somebody there to answer the call and assist and de-escalate and work with someone where it is an emergency, but you might not actually want a police officer showing up immediately," Higgins said.

Mental health funding, Higgins added, is among the three highest priorities for county commissioners statewide. Aside from a one-time, $20 million infusion in this year's budget, Pennsylvania has not increased funding for mental health services in 14 years.

Commissioner Steve Dershem applauded Jana Marie Foundation for being "boots on the ground" in addressing the mental health crisis.

"We often times want to talk about the problem, but often times we leave out the solution. And I think the Jana Marie Foundation and a lot of other folks in the community, our help for folks — whether it's this QPR or whether it's Mental Health First Aid, whether it's 988 — there's a there's such a network of opportunities out there for people to learn and to find solutions.

"...We cannot go on in a world that people are continually thinking that suicidal ideation is a way out. I mean we've got to come up with other solutions and other paths forward, so thank you for everything you've done. Thank you for obviously bringing so many objective solutions to what I would consider one of our top problems. And whether it's the civilian population or the veteran population, we all know that there are challenges out there maybe beyond our abilities, but we continue to work on them. And with your help, hopefully we'll solve a bunch of them."

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