COLLEGE STATION, Texas — September is Suicide Awareness Month, and the Brazos Valley Coalition on Suicide Prevention is hosting their very first town hall discussion on mental health issues in the community at Our Saviour's St. Lutheran Church from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 28.
“We know that mental health is a crisis in America right now, its been so for a while, and suicide is in epidemic portions across the country, so we felt like the first step in curving the rate of suicide is to have a frank discussion about it to break the stigma,” explained BVCOSP President, Doug Vance.
There will be over 15 different panelists representing each demographic affected by suicide in attendance.
“Mike Sutherland is gonna represent veterans. He's a 20-year veteran of the military, Vietnam vet. We have law enforcement represented, we have first responders represented. We have two student groups who will be there, a student from College Station High School and a student from Bryan High School,” said Vance.
The event will be a safe space for everyone who needs the support.
Vance included, “We’ll have a licensed counselor on site for anybody who needs some crisis counseling or gets triggered in any sort of way, and we also have a slew of volunteers to escort people if you need anybody to sit with they’ll sit with you”.
He says there are over 50 suicides in the Brazos Valley every year, and hopes this event will provide people with ways to address the issue and stop rates from increasing.
“We’ll take good care of you, we’re gonna have a frank discussion on the suicide rate in this county, in this valley, this seven-county region, it's the first ever of its kind around here. It's gonna be a very powerful amazing event,” expressed Vance.
Our Saviour's Lutheran Church is located at 1001 Woodcreek Drive in College Station.
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