News Flash

September is Suicide Prevention month and once again the Four County Suicide Prevention Coalition will be presenting the Stomp on the Stigma suicide awareness campaign, along with the annual “One Step at a Time 5K run/walk” this September.
 The Stomp on the Stigma Campaign was created in 2012 and has been recognized by the Ohio Suicide Prevention Foundation in their strategic plan for the state of Ohio. The goal of the campaign is to raise awareness about suicide and the number one risk factor leading to suicide, depression. This September, 159 pairs of shoes will be collected and displayed at Defiance College and Northwest State Community College. Each pair of shoes is a visual reminder of a young life that was lost to suicide in the state of Ohio in 2010. Raising awareness helps break down the stigma associated with mental health and in turn enables and empowers people to seek help. Therefore, the significance of the shoes is to “stomp” out the stigma by raising awareness so that those suffering from a mental illness like depression, can reach out for help without the fear of being criticized and find hope in help.

We are asking the community for help in spreading the message that Depression is Treatable. Suicide is Preventable. Other than the visual awareness that the shoes bring when they are displayed at the colleges, we also rely on the awareness that is created by collecting the shoes. We are looking for highly frequented community centered places to set out a shoe collection bin. The outside of the bin has informational flyers attached to it to further promote awareness. The container is about 2 feet high and about 2.5 feet in diameter.

If you would be willing to join our efforts in making our community a suicide safer community, we would love to partner with you. Please feel free to contact Alma Cerda, Prevention Specialist, by calling 800-693-6000 or sending an email to acerda@fsno.org for more information.

Depression is Treatable. Suicide is Preventable.