Umatter -- Suicide Prevention in New England!

Dear Friends,

Last week I saw a Facebook post of a dear colleague who works in healthcare that pulled at my heartstrings. It spoke about the difficult decisions people are facing regarding personal and family safety and work responsibilities.  I know this colleague has the resources (mind, body and spirit) to pull off what is being asked. She also has food, water and shelter – the basic necessities of life, upon which we are all reflecting about, more each day. Still…

I have been thinking a lot about how we will get through this. The logical order of things gets scrambled when the inputs change hourly, therefore, thinking in terms of short, intermediate and long term outcomes is a bit challenging right now. 

Some things remain certain:

There are a lot of people doing the best they can. People are working hard to fulfill their responsibilities while making adjustments personally, with their networks, and by interacting with the systems that promise to maintain stability. Our American society is largely observing the guidelines our government is providing while “COVID-19” and the meaning of pandemic becomes a permanent part of our consciousness.  

We want to thank everyone who continues to function under this pressure, and for the bonds of community that hold us together as families, organizations, communities, and as a state.  We are thinking of you, and you, and you, during this period of time, especially our partners in healthcare and education, and in community services. We are thankful that government and legislature continue to do the work they signed up for, and are elected to do.    

Here at CHL, this pandemic makes us think further about how we carry out our core values and mission in practice, while we work on the projects, policies and programs that further expose the gaps of resources and weaknesses in systems of services.  Because of this, we are working to get more of our Umatter® trainings online, and to offer trainings and technical assistance in a format that is helpful to our partners.  Your support is even more important now as people navigate this crisis and may depend on available mental health resources to cope.  Please help us in this effort. 

We made it through another winter in New England and with the warmth of spring and the promise of summer there is a lot to look forward to, even during strange times and in uncharted waters.

Please take heart, take care, ask for resources and help when you need it, and stay in touch.