Empowering Our Community
From 2012-2019, over 300 individuals in Chatham County lost their life to suicide.
However, suicide is preventable. To equip our community with the skills to intervene when someone is having thoughts of suicide, the Chatham County Commission in conjunction with the Chatham County Safety Net Planning Council and Gateway Community Service Board are working to prevent suicide today.
Prevent Suicide Today is a community-based program working to prevent suicide by raising awareness about suicide and providing evidence-based suicide prevention and resiliency-building training. Through SuicideTALK, SafeTALK, and Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST) workshops, we equip our community with the skills for suicide prevention and intervention. With the Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) training programs, we use upstream prevention to empower our community with the tools for emotional resilience and wellbeing.
Our efforts are directed toward building community capacity for suicide prevention and creating multiple layers of accessible and affordable resources for a suicide-safer compassion-focused Chatham County.
Download and share our September 2021 PDF Infographic in English and Spanish:
From September 2017 to September 2020 we:
- Trained 13,000+ people in suicide prevention
- Trained 800+ people in suicide intervention
- Trained 2,000+ people in mindfulness & self-compassion
- Collaborated with over 30 organizations
- Supported over 25 individuals to become trainers
Raising Awareness
- New 988 suicide hotline launches, WTOC
- Mother who lost son to suicide reflects during Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, WSAV-TV
- ‘You are not alone,’ Local health professionals raise awareness to suicide prevention, WSAV-Savannah
- The Steel City Gospel Radio, “Self-Discovery with Venessa Show”. Listen to the September 2021 interview with Vira Salzburn here.
- Community Corner: “It’s OK to ask for help.” Raising awareness of suicide prevention, WSAV-Savannah
- Local advocates raise awareness for World Suicide Prevention Day, WSAV-Savannah
- Experts say the pandemic has taken a serious toll on people’s mental health, Fox28 Media
- Chatham County Mental Health Symposium kicks off, WSAV-Savannah
Teaching the Skills
Suicide prevention is everyone’s business. We work to empower community members with the confidence to speak openly about suicide in order to create awareness that suicide is preventable and to promote overall mental health and well-being. Coupled with awareness, we teach community members the practical skills to intervene when someone is at risk.
84%
of participants increase their confidence to help a person at risk of suicide after an ASIST workshop
95%
of participants reported that the workshop has a practical use in their everyday life
Saving Lives
We help teach the skills, but it’s community members from all walks of life that use them to save lives. Thank you for making Chatham County a suicide safer community.
Working Together
Our wonderful community partners work together to Prevent Suicide Today in Chatham County:
- Chatham County Commission
- Chatham County Health Department
- Chatham County Juvenile Court
- Chatham County Safety Net Planning Council
- Chatham County Sheriff’s Office
- Chatham County Police Department
- First Baptist Church of the Islands
- Forever4Change Inc.
- Gateway Community Service Board
- Georgia Regional Hospital of Savannah
- Georgia Southern University
- Hospice Savannah-Demere Center for Living
- MedBank Foundation, Inc.
- Memorial Health University Medical Center
- Savannah Fire & Emergency Services
- Savannah Police Department
- Savannah State University
- Savannah-Chatham Public School System
- St. Joseph’s/Candler Health System
- St. Mary’s Community Center
- The Front Porch
- Union Mission
If you are having thoughts of suicide or need immediate assistance, please call the Georgia Crisis and Access Line at 1-800-715-4225
.
