In September, in honor of Suicide Awareness Month, Glendon hosted live and online events to help empower individuals and our community with the tools and resources needed to help prevent suicide. Glendon launched National Suicide Prevention Month with a bilingual educational forum and film screening focused on mental health awareness as well as the risk factors and warning signs of suicide. This public community event was held at Goleta Valley Community Center with more than150 people in attendance. The forum included a film screening of the documentary Ebb and Flow followed by a Q&A with the award-winning filmmaker Sasha Gay Lewis and suicide attempt survivor Anthony Rodriguez, telling his story of hope recovery and resilience. The evening also featured a panel of local expert mental health professionals and educators and an extensive mental health resource fair.

Glendon partnered with American Association for Suicide Prevention for the 5th Annual “Out of the Darkness Walk.” The walk brings together those who have lost a loved one to suicide and also engages people with local mental health resources. There were more than 300 people in attendance. The walk also featured more than 25 mental health agencies at the annual resource fair. It was an inspiring and moving event with talks from suicide survivors and suicide attempt survivors as well as dignitaries, including Santa Barbara Mayor Helene Schneider and Sen. Hannah Beth Jackson.

Glendon also hosted two Webinars on suicide prevention. The first Webinar, “Effectively Saving Lives with Dr. John Draper, Director of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 1-800-273 TALK (8255), had hundreds of attendees from around the country and around the world.

The second Webinar presented by Dr. Madelyn Gould entitled “Is Suicide Contagious?” examined the nature of suicide clusters and contagion and the role media play.

 

See our full list of suicide prevention Webinars here