The Palouse Advocacy League would like to acknowledge and thank our community for the support it showed us during our Three Days in July events.
Pullman, Moscow and Palouse businesses and volunteers came together and successfully turned up the volume in Whitman and Latah counties on suicide prevention and on reducing the stigma associated with mental illness. Community members donated, purchased T-shirts and bumper stickers, had meaningful conversations or simply just said, "Hello, and thanks for what you're doing," at eight locations around the Palouse.
Facebook advertisements brought people out at every stop, but mostly we talked with folks who just happened to be at Cougar Country, Pups and Cups Café or the Moscow Food Co-op when we were set up.
It's been six months since we lost our Washington State University quarterback to suicide and we've changed the name of our organization, but people really did seem to appreciate the work that we're trying to do and how we're going about it. Our most popular giveaway was our comprehensive and up-to-date listing of mental health service providers for Whitman and Latah counties. To the best of our knowledge, a list like we put together exists nowhere else. We handed out paper copies, but we also have a link to it on our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/PalouseAdvocacy
League. We plan to update the list on a quarterly basis and to continue to make it widely available to college students and to members of the community at large.
If you weren't able to come and visit us in person last week, our five different shirts featuring our Cori Dantini P.A.L. dragonfly, our magnetic bumper stickers and window clings are now all available for purchase through our Facebook page. Or, you may visit us in person Aug. 25 at Pride Fest at East City Park in Moscow.
In the coming months, watch for more Mental Health First Aid courses (like the one we offered in May at the Pullman Regional Hospital) to be available to the general public, and we hope to bring the documentary "Suicide: The Ripple Effect" to the Village Centre Cinemas at Eastside in Moscow at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 9. In order to ensure that we can bring this important and encouraging film to our community, we need to reserve 50 tickets in advance online. You can reserve your ticket at: https://gathr.us/screening/23871 for $14.50. A question-and-answer session will follow the film. Also, we hope to begin offering depression and anxiety support groups in Pullman and in Moscow. Follow us on Facebook for details as they become available.
It is our sincere wish that anybody of any age, gender or walk of life in Pullman, Moscow or the surrounding areas who might be struggling with suicidal thoughts know that they are truly not alone and that there is always somebody that they can turn to, even in their darkest moments. If you are feeling hopeless or helpless and need someone to talk to, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at (800) 273-8255, or text the word "home" to 741741, 24-hours a day, seven days a week. A trained crisis counselor on the other end will respond, and, if need be, can refer you to local service providers.
It is OK to talk about depression, anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder or PTSD - there is no shame in it. It's only human.
Shelley Calissendorff is the chair of the Palouse Advocacy League. She lives in Pullman.
