By Emalee Gillis, NAMI Spokane Blog Editor.
The Prevent Suicide Spokane Coalition (PSSC) offers a variety of services in Spokane County related to reducing suicide attempts and rates, and promoting prevention, intervention and postvention strategies. The Coalition was formed in 1998.
Melody Youker, the previous chair of the PSSC, said, “The Coalition brings together a wide range of community members and organizations. It includes nonprofits, mental health organizations, and people with lived experience.”
The Coalition was formed because the suicide rate in Washington was higher than the national rate. Another motivation for forming the Coalition was access to service.
“When the Coalition was formed, it was so hard to access services. It’s really improved since then. There are still gaps, but it is nothing compared to what it was back then,” said Youker.
The Strategic Plan for the PSSC lays out three priority areas for the Coalition:
- Expanding Inclusion and Reach
- Enhancing Community Competency Around Suicide Prevention
- Strengthening the Safety Net
Two of the most successful events hosted by PSSC addressed all three of the priority areas. In November of 2022, the Coalition hosted an event that included a dinner and speakers.
Youker said, “During the evening event, people asked very basic questions about how to prevent suicide. We realized we needed to fill this information gap.”
To fill that gap, the Coalition hosted a day-long conference even though the Coalition did not have a funding source. According to Youker, the process of pulling together the conference was like organizing a symphony.
“I was the conductor, but I wasn’t the one making music. The instruments playing the music make the difference,” Youker said. “Individuals in the Coalition brought forth the talents they had. Some people organized resources, others provided technical support, other people found sponsors.”
The day-long conference was very successful. Participants had the chance to explain their needs to the presenters and an opportunity to speak directly with the team leading the strategic planning effort for the Washington State Suicide Plan.
“We provided information on what suicide looks like in our community. We let the community know we are here to help,” said Youker.
The Coalition also helps get the word out on trainings related to suicide that member organizations facilitate. For example, the Coalition publicizes the training that Youker is involved with called Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training or ASIST. ASIST is a two-day workshop that is put on three times a year.
“In ASIST, we form emotional connections with each other and that makes it easier to talk about suicide. We teach people how to conduct a suicide intervention,” said Youker.
Trainings like ASIST directly address the stigma around suicide.
“Because of the stigma, people often lower their voice when they talk about suicide. In the ASIST trainings, we put the fun in suicide. After the ASIST trainings, people talk about how much fun they had and how much they learned,” said Youker.
Youker has noticed that people who attend the ASIST training will sometimes initiate a suicide intervention within days of the training.
“The ASIST training opens their eyes,” Youker said.
Other trainings that the Coalition publicizes include QPR (Question, Persuade and Refer), Hope Squad, Screenagers, and Healing After a Suicide Loss.
Coalition members also staff a table at other community events. The Coalition is creating a board with questions about suicide on flaps with the answers underneath. The questions are designed to catch participants’ interest. The participants earn a prize if they get an answer right and that is another way the Coalition makes it fun to learn about suicide.
Through their website, the Coalition also gets the word out on resources for suicide. For example, the website advertises free group counseling for those who have lost someone to suicide. Other events the Coalition publicizes are baskets of kindness and a campaign to send letters to people who are experiencing a mental health crisis.
Amanda Kaplan, the co-chair of the Coalition, explained that some populations have higher rates of suicide. For example, construction workers have a higher rate than other groups.
“The Coalition worked with construction organizations and shared information and resources with them. We emphasized that it was okay to talk about suicide—this is especially important among construction workers where the reluctance to talk about suicide is so high,” said Kaplan.
According to Kaplan, the Coalition also welcomed gun owners and firearm-related organizations into the discussion. For example, the Coalition has focused on the importance of gun lock boxes. In addition, Coalition members are actively involved in a strategic plan to reduce firearms violence in the Spokane community.
Perhaps the greatest contribution of the Coalition is bringing its diverse membership together.
According to Youker, “Everybody is collaborating instead of competing. That makes our community better.”
To learn more about the Coalition, visit their website.
Melody Youker, Chair of the Coalition, has been a member of PSSC for a couple of decades and is breaking the stigma by making it a common subject to talk about. Melody’s hope for the Spokane community is that everyone takes time for a training on how to save a life from suicide.
Amanda Kaplan, Vice Chair of the Coalition, has been a member of PSSC for 3+ years as part of her work as the Programs & Outreach Coordinator of NAMI Spokane. Amanda aims to raise awareness and reduce the stigma around mental health; to show people they are not alone.
Emalee Gillis is a writer and blog editor. She is the author of the memoir Adventures on the Path to Living Well with a Mental Illness and has a related TEDx Talk.