September is dedicated to suicide prevention, and people in Southeast Ohio joined together to extend their support. On Saturday, 152 Ohio residents gathered at West State Street Park in Athens to walk together in the Southeast Ohio Out of the Darkness Suicide Prevention Walk for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
This is the organization’s second year for the suicide prevention walk in Southeast Ohio. Other suicide prevention walks occur in Cleveland, Toledo, Oxford and Cincinnati. The Southeast Ohio walk raised $7,458 to support research, advocacy and educational programs throughout Ohio.
Lacy Workman, Walk Chair for Southeast Ohio Out of the Darkness, brought the event to Athens for the first time.
“Clear back in 2018, I was struggling with mental health myself and ran across a walk in Parkersburg, West Virginia, and so my coworkers and I started walking there, and we walked there for several years, and I thought, ‘Why doesn't Athens have something like this?'” Workman said.
Participants in the walk varied in age, and the course was less than one mile to accommodate anyone who wanted to join.
“Even dogs are allowed,” Workman said. “Anyone can participate, especially since it's non-competitive. Those with walkers, wheelchairs, anything.”
For many participants, the walk was personal; the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention reports suicide is the 11th leading cause of death in the United States. Many attendees walked in remembrance of a lost family member or friend.
Athens resident Barbara Grubbs walked with her friends and family in honor of her husband, who died by suicide. Grubbs said the walk helps Athens locals in learning more about suicide prevention and finding the resources they need.
“I really hope that it helps spread the word that there are a lot of people out there to help and just to listen, and realize that we all don't have any control when our life is not going to be here, and there's so much out of our control,” Grubbs said. “But suicide, I think, can be in our control a little bit more. But we have to allow the resources to get in.”
The event offered tables, booths and activities for attendees to visit before the walk started. It included Angie’s Soft Serve Ice Cream, a Party Overdrive bounce house, Pour Paint and Sparkle, a Memorial Ribbon Table and live music by Evan McCrune.
Savannah Fish, a local artist, said she can relate to feelings of depression and hopes her art business can help people of all ages. Fish’s booth offered hand-painted canvases and magnets as well as DIY art kits for kids to encourage mindfulness.
“I have epilepsy, and some of my medication causes me to have depression and I sometimes have episodes of sadness,” Fish said. “I saw this, and I was like, ‘I should come here and set up and have some happiness.’”
Fish was excited the event brought people together, especially college students, who might find it hard to fit in amongst a large campus. For Fish, not only was the event an opportunity to share her artwork, but also an opportunity to make others happy.
“They love the Snoopy stuff and pins,” Fish said. “I've had a lot of people just come by and smile at the pins, and that makes me happy.”
Other tables in the park, such as the Survivor Advocacy Outreach Program and Appalachian Children Coalition, offered handouts and resources to help attendees deepen their knowledge on crisis response. Courtney Graham, an avid direct response service advocate with the SAOP, said those resources and organizations are important for Athens residents.
“Athens is a very unique area,” Graham said. “We are both college and rural, and so that happens to be one of those mixtures that sometimes is very hard to live in. I found that survivors oftentimes think that the only resources are OU, where we're a community resource; we help survivors of all types in all areas.”
Saturday’s walk for suicide prevention allowed many people to explore resources and connect with fellow participants. The organization hopes to continue raising money to support more research, advocacy and education on suicide prevention.
