Countless lives are saved with each suicide prevention workshop we’re able to fund.  While the majority of our suicide prevention workshops are for LGBTQ+ college-age students, this one was the first of its kind. Specifically for parents, caregivers, and teachers of LGBTQ+ teens, our goal was to provide them with the education, resources, and support they need to become powerful suicide preventionists in their own homes and classrooms.  

In our latest workshop for parents of LGBTQ youth, we asked the same set of questions before and after the workshop was presented.

The results blew us away.

With each presentation, we are not only offering space and training that exists nowhere else, we are also equipping parents with the very real vocabulary, skills, and situational practice to intervene when their kids need it most.

We are still working to fund our next workshop. If you’d like to...

A 90-Minute Workshop That Saves Young LGBTQ+ Lives

COVID-19 has had a profound impact on mental health in the United States. Although the last year has been a shared trauma, the data shows that these times have been especially detrimental for young adults. 

According to the CDC, young adults experienced an almost 15% increase in suicidal ideation during 2020. 

 

The data and events of the last year have made it clear that it’s more important than ever to equip our youth with suicide prevention tactics and skills to intervene when it’s needed most.  While suicide lifelines are helpful, people are more likely to reach out to their peers before they ask a stranger for help.

As part of our mission to reduce the rate of suicide in the LGBTQ+ community, the Pride and Joy Foundation regularly holds Ask. Listen. Plan. (ALP) workshops for college-aged individuals. These workshops are geared toward all young adults and provide tools, resources, and tactics...

Suicide helplines are awesome.  They’re also the last line of defense we have at preventing suicide for ourselves and our loved ones.  There is SO much we can do before we reach the point that we need to ask for help from strangers at the end of a telephone line or in a hospital.

As someone who was in that pit and who has made it her mission to reduce the rate of suicide in the LGBTQ community, this is a daily part of my life.  I know it sounds heavy-handed to say that a suburban mom practices suicide prevention every day but there it is.  I participated in a “therapy” that has a 57% suicide rate.  Many therapists have let me know that “I’m only a survivor until I’m a statistic” and for the rest of my life, I need to keep my mental health a priority.

Add to that the fact that I am a part of, and professionally work with, the LGBTQ population, a marginalized population that has one of the HIGHEST suicide rates,...