HOOD RIVER — Perhaps you’ve noticed some hopeful signs around town with encouraging messages such as “You Matter,” “You Are Enough,” “You Are Not Alone,” “Your Mistakes Do Not Define You” and “You Are Worthy Of Love.” We all need words of encouragement, and for some of us, words of encouragement can mean the difference between life and death.
The local Hood River organization Survivors of Suicide Loss Support Group decided to post these signs of hope around town from Sept. 4-9 in recognition of the need for suicide prevention. The month of September is recognized as National Suicide Prevention Month and the week after Labor Day as National Suicide Prevention Week. The signs have been posted in the spirit of The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) in the hope of offering understanding and guidance for the public through special events, personal stories and perspectives, shareable social graphics and other materials designed to help people know what they can do if they, or someone they know, is struggling, and how to have authentic, caring conversations about suicide and mental health.
The signs in the Hood River Valley can be found at Wy’east Middle School, Hood River Valley High School, Hood River Library, Jackson Park, Walmart, Windmaster Market and Hood River Supply in Odell. Members of the local Survivors of Suicide Loss Support Group will be present at some of these locations to hand out small business card-sized signs, answer questions about suicide prevention and provide information about local activities.
The local Survivors of Suicide Loss Support Group was formed in 2020 by Belinda Ballah, director of Hood River County Prevention Department, with volunteer Susan Gabay. The group was organized following a meeting of the International Survivors of Suicide Loss Day, held on Nov. 23, 2019, when some of the attendees expressed the desire to meet more frequently than once a year. Many members who attended the inaugural meeting in 2020 are still attending the monthly meetings which are held on the second Tuesday of every month at 5:30 p.m. at the Columbia Gorge Community College and other locations in the Hood River Valley.
Ballah continues to support the group and organize the yearly International Survivors of Suicide Loss Day for both Wasco and Hood River counties. This year’s event will be held on Saturday, Nov. 19 at 10 a.m. at Columbia Gorge Community College in Hood River. The public is welcome to attend. For more information, please contact Belinda.ballah@hoodrivercounty.gov.
The signs of hope will be displayed until Friday, Sept. 9, but the Survivors of Suicide Loss Support Group hopes the message of love and compassion expressed on the signs will continue to spread and reverberate throughout our community.
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Leah Stenson is a writer and poet living in Mt. Hood-Parkdale. She is a member of the Hood River Survivors of Suicide Loss Support Group.
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