Evergreen Youth & Family Services Talks Suicide Prevention

The Minnesota Department of Health and the Evergreen Youth And Family Services in Bemidji are wrapping up Mental Health Awareness Month with a free suicide prevention class.

Lakeland News was not allowed to film the class in order to protect the privacy of some the participants, but organizers tells us the goal is to help people recognize the signs and shows them how to intervene. Officials say most people thinking about suicide will drop hints. The biggest thing is to not be afraid to ask the question.

Kelly Brevig, the Evergreen Suicide Educational Services Coordinator, says, “When you are with someone that you think might be suicidal, it’s really important to ask them, ‘are you feeling suicidal?’ and it’s a scary question to ask, but we have to ask it and knowing what to do with that information is really important as well. We have a lot of resources in our community that are able to help. One of the best resources we have is our mobile crisis team, that by calling 800-422-0045, folks can be connected with someone from mobile crisis that can come to the home or come to the workplace.”

Evergreen has been working on many programs to help with mental health in the community. Currently, the Headwaters Alliance For Suicide Prevention is coming up with a community suicide prevention plan. They will also host a “Run, Walk, Skate” event in September to bring awareness. Another way they are helping out is by reaching out to teens in Beltrami County.

Gary Russell, the Evergreen Shelter Program Director, says “Kelly meets with every 9^th grade student in Beltrami County to talk about – it’s called Gatekeeper training – so they learn how to identify in their peers if their peers are significantly depressed or show signs of depression, and if their peers ever have high-risk signs of suicide, they teach the peers what to do and how to respond or what kind of intervention to do, and usually that involves connecting them with a caring adult.”

To learn more about suicide prevention resources in Beltrami County, click here.