My passion for suicide prevention stems from my personal experience with both suicide loss and lived experience, and from my professional work in public mental health for over 20 years. I am a clinical psychologist and have worked in various roles, from direct care to hospital leadership. I now work for the South Carolina Department of Mental Health (SCDMH). In my role, I collaborate with inpatient psychiatric hospitals and long-term care facilities, where I focus on researching, identifying and offering guidance with evidenced-based practice.

I first learned about AFSP in 2019 when I was being trained in Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST), which had been sponsored by AFSP. Inspired by that experience, I volunteered as a team captain for one of AFSP’s Out of the Darkness Walks. I then became a Project 2025 Champion for my local AFSP chapter. The next year I joined the chapter’s board.

Once I joined the board of my chapter, we formed a Project 2025 Committee, with both board members and volunteers. Each person and place we can expose to suicide awareness and prevention is an opportunity. It’s about finding the right partners in our own communities, so we can get our work off the ground, our foot in the door, and then build those relationships to kick that door wide open to have a profound impact!

One of the four critical areas of Project 2025 is Firearms. South Carolina has a large active duty and Veteran population, as well as a strong gun owning community. For that reason, AFSP’s South Carolina chapter has partnered with the Veteran’s Health Administration (VHA) to focus on lethal means safety, with a focus on firearms. We are approaching the firearms community (such as shooting ranges and firearms retailers) with AFSP and VHA information and resources, offering training and education related to suicide, and learning from them what’s most helpful for those environments. It’s about meeting people where they are, and concentrating on suicide prevention education and firearms safety.

Through my involvement with AFSP, I’ve also helped support another area of Project 2025, Healthcare Systems, through SafeSide Prevention, which provides suicide prevention training for medical practices. SafeSide utilizes video-based workshops that provide a suicide prevention framework for primary care professionals, and demonstrate practical actions to take when a patient may be thinking about suicide. The program combines the perspective of those with lived experience and expert instruction from real primary care providers. It also includes implementation support and can be tailored to best fit the needs of each practice.

Our South Carolina chapter offered the first SafeSide certificate of completion to a medical practice in the nation. We also piloted SafeSide in several practices that belong to a large healthcare system. From those successes, the larger healthcare system decided to sign on for all of their providers, and have now put together a team to develop a plan to roll out SafeSide fully! We have also connected with residency programs, which allows for continual learning as residents process through their rotations.

My AFSP chapter is like a second family to me. Our chapter has so many opportunities to get out and engage in the community. We are truly boots on the ground, connecting with people. You will not often see me without some AFSP swag on. I’m like a walking advertisement for AFSP and suicide prevention awareness! The most typical response is, “I love that t-shirt. I lost a loved one to suicide.” It’s an instant opportunity to truly meet someone where they are and have an impact.

My heart is in this fight. I feel the joy of the memories, and the pain of the losses. I want anyone reading this to know: never walk alone; I will be by your side.