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Dear Friends,
It has been a fantastic year for HOPES. We have reached a lot of people and
continue to raise awareness about the problem of suicide in Wisconsin. Because
of the fast pace of these opportunities I have not had time to do a newsletter.
I want to thank all of you for participating in the Walk last year, spreading
the word and raising money by getting sponsors and donations from friends,
co-workers, family members, and businesses. You truly are incredible! At this
time it is the only fund raiser that HOPES does.
I am looking forward to this year because I see so many opportunities for
survivors to get involved. We will be hosting monthly meetings alternating
between Madison and the Milwaukee area. Our first meeting will be Wednesday
April 30th at 7:00 at St. Raphael's Cathedral. 222 W. Main St. Madison. Check
our website for dates and locations and see what a great job our webmaster,
Theresa Grove, is doing.
We are also planning a conference for a Friday and Saturday in the fall. We
will have clinical and professional training on suicide prevention on Friday.
Saturday we will have training for survivors and community members. Imagine all
the people coming together to learn about suicide prevention and taking that
knowledge back to their communities to make them better places to live.
We will be kicking off our Depression Awareness Campaign at the Walk. The
posters, bookmarks, PSA's and newspaper ads will be there for you to see and
take back to your communities to raise awareness about depression.
I can't wait to see all of you for our Walk for Awareness. The feeling of
support and caring that I see at our walk is one of the highlights of my year.
I am looking forward to seeing you May 17, 2003 in Madison.
Wisconsin United for Mental Health
HOPES had an opportunity to join other agencies that are working to reduce
stigma around mental illness. WI United for Mental Health is an ongoing effort
by Wisconsin citizens to educate and increase awareness about mental illness as
a real and common illness that is treatable. One of their projects this year was
to donate copies of The Beautiful Mind to libraries in the state. To find out
more about this organization check out the website at
www.wimentalhealth.org.
What's Happening in Communities in Wisconsin?
The WI Strategy of Suicide Prevention was developed in response to the
National Strategy of Suicide Prevention: Goals and objectives for Action. The
strategies of both these documents provide us with guidelines to work in the
communities to develop their own suicide awareness and prevention campaigns.
HOPES assisted with the National and the State Strategy and is now working with
the State of WI and other agencies to help the communities implement their
plans. Everyone's resources are stretched so we feel collaboration is
important. This is what is happening.
Oshkosh
Community for Hope of Greater Oshkosh, Inc. started in May of 2001 out of
concerns over a number of teen suicides in their area. They are now a
non-profit organization. They have secured office space. They have a
comprehensive program in their schools and community with the Yellow Ribbon
Organization. They are also doing a survey with the Search Institute. They
started a support group for Survivors of Suicide. They developed a
wonderful Mental Health Resource Guide for Winnebago County. They are most
generous with their information and it will be included in our Community Action
Kit. Their website is
www.communityforhope.org
Shawano
Shawano County has been meeting since September 2002. They are working on
their non-profit status. Their community name is ROADS Reaching Out About
Depression and Suicide. They had a speaker on Trauma for their community in
Oct. They are having a QPR Training for their Committee and for the public in
April 2003. They have several committees that are working on issues relevant to
suicide prevention in their community.
Marinette County
Marinette County held a 2 day seminar on Suicide Prevention hosted by their
Prevention Specialist from the Adapt Program. The Adapt Program is the Mental
Health part of the Health and Human Services Department. She also organized 3
community wide QPR presentations in two days. They have started a support group
for survivors of suicide.
Waupaca County
Survivor Susan Woodliff has helped to organize 4 QPR training's in Waupaca.
They have a large contingency of people that join us for the Walk for Awareness.
Vilas County
Vilas County has identified it as one of their priorities in their Community
Health Improvement Plan. They are having Kick Off festivities in Minocqua and
Eagle River on April 22, 2003. This is a part of the plan of the Vilas County
Public Health Department
Dane County
The Safe Community Coalition of Madison and Dane County has identified
suicide prevention as one of their priorities. They are working on funding for
a staff person to direct these efforts.
Sheboygan County
The Mental Health Association of Sheboygan County received a grant to have a
depression awareness campaign using billboards and presentations. They have an
ongoing committee.
Florence County
Survivor Mary Doemel is collaborating with the Dept. of Health and Family
Services and has done health fairs and a quilt display in the area. They are
planning 7 QPR presentations in May for their community.
State Funded Projects
HOPES was awarded a one time contract for the following projects:
A Press Conference where the Department of Health and Family Services
introduced the Wisconsin Strategy for Suicide Prevention to the people of
Wisconsin. HOPES unveiled their Billboard Awareness Campaign:
"WI Deaths in 2000"
"Suicide 588 Homicide 175 HIV AIDS 62"
32 Billboards were displayed around the State.
"A Guide for Survivors of Suicide" is developed and introduced at the WI
Funeral Directors Assn. Conference in Madison. It is available on our website
also.
Awareness Display and QPR presentation at Farm Progress Days July 9, 10, and 11
in Richland Center.
The Awareness Display was at the State Fair in Milwaukee August 1-11. Special
thanks to the volunteers that helped staff the booth from 9 am to 10 pm each
day.
HOPES website updating.
Depression Awareness Campaign materials printed with the generous assistance of
The Goltz Seering Agency of Green Bay. It includes billboards, posters,
bookmarks, PSA's and Newspaper Ads. We will use them for a campaign we will be
kicking off at the Walk for Awareness May 17, 2003.
Community Action Kit Development
We were able to do displays and presentations at 6 other conferences.
QPR: CPR for Suicide Prevention
QPR gatekeeper training takes just one hour and is taught in a format that
is clear, concise and applicable for a wide variety of audiences. Gatekeepers
are given information that is easy to understand, and reinforced by a QPR
booklet and card complete with warning signs, and methods to encourage a person
to get help and a list of resources available in your community.
QPR was created and developed by Paul Quinnett, Ph.D. of Spokane, Washington
and is used in many communities throughout the country. HOPES received a grant
from the State of WI Health Dept. and a gift from the Eli Lilly Company that was
used to bring Dr. Quinett to Madison for training of QPR instructors. 15 people
were certified as QPR Instructors from throughout the state. We will use money
from the Walk to purchase the QPR booklet and card for the trainers. We will be
having QPR training's throughout the state listed on our website throughout the
year.
I have been using this in different communities for training as well. This year
we were able to offer 7 trainings on QPR at different events around the state.
"After Suicide" Conference Speaker
The Mental Health Center of Dane County hosted a conference for survivors of
suicide in October. HOPES provided funding for the keynote speaker, Michelle
Linn-Gust, the author of "Are there Bad Days in Heaven?" a book about sibling
grief.
HOPES 2003 Walk information
2003 Walk Sponsor list (.pdf)
(get donations from your friends, family or coworkers)
Download
a Flyer (.pdf) and print on purple or yellow paper
Download the 2003 Walk Brochure
Page 1
Page 2
best if printed on legal size paper, 14" x 8.5"
can be printed on letter size paper, 11" x 8.5
Before you copy the advocacy letter add the names of our Governor James
Doyle, Senator Feingold, Senator Kohl and you can add your representative or
leave the name blank but have everyone sign them and we will add the
representatives names as they come into us. We will be taking them to
Washington DC in July. If you are interested in joining us check out the
www.spanusa.org website for information about that event. If you have
any questions you can call me at 608-274-1838
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