HAVRE, Mont. (NMB) – The 7th Annual Hill County Suicide Awareness and Prevention Walk will be taking place this Thursday at 7 PM on the MSU-Northern Campus.
Hill County Suicide Awareness Coalition Chair Amber Spring says that the walk will begin at the clock tower behind Cowan Hall.
“We’re asking people not to check in any earlier than 6:45 just to kind of minimize social contact. Our speaker will begin at 7 PM and as always, we will allow anybody from the community who would like to speak about their experiences and how suicide has affected their lives. And then we will have our walk around the campus. It is about a mile, a pretty gentle walk.”
The keynote speaker is Dr. Deborah Essert, Behavioral Health Director/Psychologist for the Rocky Boy Health Center.
This year’s theme is: Be Someone’s Umbrella.
“So we are encouraging participants to bring an umbrella just to signify that they would be there for somebody to help them weather the storm. And with COVID, we are asking people just to social distance and wear a mask if they have that available to them.”
Spring says with the pandemic continuing to drag on, it is as important as ever that they hold this walk.
“We have lost access sometimes to some of the things we used to utilize for self-care and support. And so I think we are seeing even more people struggling with mental health issues. So this year in particular, I think it’s even more important for people to really understand that there are people out there that are willing to support them, that they just have to be willing to ask for help. And I also think that for people struggling with what to do, that there are lots of educational opportunities in our community to learn more about mental health symptoms and really how to help a person in need.”
