Suicide prevention forum set for Nov. 5

PRINCETON — The Bureau County Committee of the 13th Judicial Circuit Family Violence Prevention Council has announced a suicide prevention forum titled “suicideTALK,” will be presented by Cheryl Robinson at 6:30 p.m. Nov. 5 at the New Hope Church, 30 N. Sixth St., Princeton.

Princeton has tragically learned first-hand that suicide affects an entire community. Robinson, herself, discovered that suicide can happen to any family when on June 30, 2005, she lost her 19-year-old son Patrick to suicide. Her struggle to understand that tragedy led her to LivingWORKS, a set of educational programs designed to help a community deal with suicide.

Robinson applied her 20 years of experience as an educator to use the LivingWORKS programs to spread the word that suicide should be talked about, and to provide steps to be taken to help those who are at-risk for suicide.

Robinson became a LivingWORKS certified ASIST (Applied Suicide Intervention Skills) trainer and a safeTALK trainer, and also facilitates community forums called suicideTALK, a 90-minute session that openly deals with the stigma around suicide by focusing upon the question, “Should we talk about suicide?”

Participants of the training will be better able to understand how personal and community beliefs about suicide affect suicide stigma and safety; to appreciate how the steps taught in safeTALK can be used to help prevent suicide; and to choose among ways to help protect, preserve and promote life in a suicide-safer community.

This community forum is equivalent to the program presented at Princeton High School on Oct. 26. It is co-sponsored by the city of Princeton, Princeton Police Department, Princeton Fire Department, Bureau County Sheriff’s Office, Bureau County Health Department, Bureau County Health and Wellness Center, Bureau County Coroner’s Office, Youth Service Bureau of Illinois Valley, Bureau County Youth Development Coalition, Freedom House, National Alliance on Mental Illness and New Hope Church, among others. Numerous agencies will have resource literature and contact information available at the forum.

Anyone interested in becoming more aware of the community problem of suicide and learning about other educational opportunities available are welcome to attend. For more information, contact Nancy Churchill, coordinator, 13th Judicial Circuit Family Violence Prevention Council, at: nancy.churchill@mchsi.com; or call (815) 431-0630 or (815) 915-8117.