SNOW HILL – County officials recognized September as Suicide Prevention Month with a proclamation this week.
The Worcester County Commissioners thanked local agencies for ongoing efforts to prevent suicide in the community at a meeting Tuesday.
“I don’t think there’s an individual here that hasn’t suffered the agony of knowing somebody who has committed suicide,” Commissioner Chip Bertino said.
Representatives from the Worcester County Health Department, the Jesse Klump Memorial Fund and the Governor’s Commission on Suicide Prevention were in attendance Tuesday to receive the proclamation. Susan Schwarten, a member of the Governor’s Commission on Suicide Prevention and a four-time suicide survivor, told the commissioners she’d joined the commission in February to provide it with a point of view it hadn’t had before.
“I wanted to contribute to the commission in a very unique way, to offer my viewpoint on what has worked and what has failed in the mental health programs that we have in the state,” she said.
She said the commission had various goals and was working on multiple initiatives.
“It’s an elephant that we’re eating one bite at a time,” she said. “Unfortunately the resources, as these folks know, can be very difficult to find and we’re also working on trying to remedy that situation.”
Jennifer LaMade, representing the Worcester County Health Department, thanked the commissioners and the community for their support of suicide prevention efforts, particularly the Out of the Darkness Walk to Prevent Suicide. This year’s walk is set for Sept. 21 at Caroline Street on the Boardwalk.
“We have strong partnerships in the is community and that’s what really helps us to be successful,” she said.
Ron Pilling, secretary of the Jesse Klump Memorial Fund, agreed.
“The recognition is nice but what’s more important to me, and to all of us, is the affirmation,” he said. “The recognition by the commissioners that the work we do is unfortunately necessary and that we must do a pretty good job of it.”
The 2019 Out of the Darkness Walk will be held Sat., Sept. 21 on the Boardwalk at Caroline Street. Registration begins at 9 a.m. and the walk begins at 10:30 a.m. To learn more about warning signs and risk factors for suicide, visit http://worcesterhealth.org.
