CLARION CO., Pa. (EYT) – The Clarion County Coalition for Suicide Prevention is continuing its efforts to make the community aware of the outreach programs available.

The alliance began six years ago when five individuals from local agencies — Clarion Psychiatric Center, Service Access and Management, the Center for Community Resources, the Alliance for Nonprofit Resources, and the County of Clarion — realized there was a need for outreach and suicide prevention in the area.

According to Susan LaBruzzo, the Vice Chair of the coalition, they decided to start meeting on a monthly basis to begin planning and working on educational and outreach programs for the local community. They started with a kick-off event at the Park Inn in Clarion, where they held a luncheon and invited anyone who was interested in finding out about what they were organizing.

“We had about 50 or 60 people at that (event),” LaBruzzo noted.

From that time on, they began holding monthly meetings on the third Thursday of each month and also began forming sub-committees to take charge of programs from outreach to the annual Suicide Prevention Walk they began holding the following year. The meetings continue to be open to anyone in the community who would like to join.

While their group expanded and began planning educational and outreach programs, the need for the programs became apparent.

“Last year in Clarion County we had 10 completed suicides, double from the previous year,” LaBruzzo noted.

“And those are only confirmed suicides, there are others that could be possible but aren’t confirmed. So, we have a lot of work to do, and that’s not just local, statistics say suicide is going up nationally.”

“We really feel like we have a long way to go to try to help people realize there is help out there. I don’t think everyone knows that.”

The coalition sponsors a number of local events.

This year, they had a magician, who centers his entire show around mental health and wellness, as well as suicide prevention, come in and do assemblies for the students in four local schools.

They also brought in “Listen Lucy,” a mental health and suicide prevention speaker, to speak to area students at the Clarion County Youth Leadership Conference.

The coalition also sponsors open community events.

Most recently, they held events at the Knox Firehall and at Redbank Valley High School to raise awareness of suicide and suicide prevention. These events allow community members to discover the many resources available in our region.

Last year, the coalition sponsored a comedian who came to Clarion University. The show, which was a comedy but also focused on mental health issues, was open to the public.

“We had about 200 people at that one, which is great. We are just always thinking of more ways to reach out and educate people on mental illness and on suicide prevention. Those are our two main goals.”

In addition to their own events, the coalition also sets up outreach tables at community events, such as Sligo Pool Day, and even the Faith in Human Service Symposium for local ministers. They also provide promotional items for schools to give to students as a resource.

“Anything like that we can do to really try and educate different groups of people in the community is really important,” LaBruzzo explained.

The coalition has also provided Crisis Intervention Training for police officers, which not offered them additional training, but also got some more officers directly involved with the coalition, according to LaBruzzo.

The coalition’s main event, though, remains the Suicide Prevention Walk.

This year will mark the fifth year for the walk in our region, and the coalition has decided to make some changes.

“The Knox community has been hit pretty hard with suicides the last couple of years, and so the Knox Police actually started coming to our coalition meetings on a monthly basis, then the walk subcommittee monthly meeting, too.

“So, we really kind of felt like this year would be a good year to move it. We had already talked about moving it around to different communities in Clarion County, but it kind of made sense for us to do it down there (in Knox) this year.”

The walk is slated for Thursday, September 12, at 6:30 p.m. and will be held in Knox at the Keystone Area High School.

“We talked to the school about it, and they were excited about us having it there. They are going to open the track and the bleachers, and we can use the PA system. So, at the beginning, we will have a speaker, and everyone can sit in bleachers for that. Then we’ll start the walk on the track, then go up past the elementary school then through town and back around and back to the school. It’s about a 1.2-mile total route.”

LaBruzzo noted that they have received a great response from the community for the event in the past, with about 200 people the first year growing into about 300 in the last few.

“We are hoping to still have at least that many in Knox this year,” she noted.

The coalition will have t-shirts for sale for the walk, for $20.00 each, as they have in previous years, but they also welcome those who prefer to get creative on their own.

“As the years go on, we have some people who make their own team shirts with sayings or things like that. It’s really cool to see teams of up to 20 or 25 people with their own shirts or even smaller groups of two or three people doing it. Last year we even had a group wearing tutus, which was really cool. It’s good to see how people have gotten creative to show their support.”

While the event itself isn’t until September, the coalition is preparing now, talking to local businesses and agencies about sponsorships for the walk, as well as seeking donations for the drawings they hold at the walk each year.

“It’s just a great opportunity to raise awareness all through the community.”

Additional information is available on the Clarion County Coalition for Suicide Prevention Facebook page.