No matter what your circumstances are, you are loved and appreciated, and life is better with you here. That’s the conversation the billboards that are popping up in Lima are hoping to spark within the communities most vulnerable to mental health issues.
One of the freshly glued billboards sits on the corner of Metcalf and North St. in Lima that reads the many contributions of a young black man in his life. The list ends with “Died by suicide.” It’s a way to bring awareness to the silent struggles that thousands of people face every day.
Janeece West, a prevention specialist at PASS in Lima says, “Those billboards are speaking to people who are not only in crisis mode and thinking of suicide, but also the people surrounding those folks who can’t tell you.”
While suicide and mental health have become less of a taboo subject, especially since the pandemic, there’s still missing awareness for the disparaging rates young black men are dying by suicide compared to their white peers. According to withyouhere.org, black children under the age of 13 are twice as likely to die by suicide than white children.
“It feels like we’re breaking down the borders of the stigma, that’s what it feels like,” says West. “But this one is even more special to me because I’m talking to my own brothers and sisters on how important your breath matters and how sometimes we see things going on and we feel like there is no hope, but there is.”
PASS is helping shed light on that tough conversation by offering free mental health resources to the community. Warren Pughsley, the fire inspector at the Lima Fire Department, has taken advantage of some of the events at PASS and knows the importance of being the type of person that someone in trouble could turn to.
Pughsley says, “It’s so important to know that you have help, that you have assistance, that you have resources. That’s part of the problem with mental health is feeling like you don’t have help or you don’t have somewhere to turn.”
He’s had his own experiences with mental health issues, like dealing with the loss of a basketball player he coached from death by suicide. It’s moments like these that PASS teaches people how to get through, and even prevent.
“It would be beneficial for not only me but any I come in contact with,” says Pughsley, “The kids I coach or other committees I’m on and things like that just to be able to have something to offer and let them know we really need to tackle this, this is a serious issue in our community.”
Crisis intervention programs and mental health first aid classes are among the several ways that PASS tries to spread awareness and knowledge free of cost to the community. For more information on prevention awareness support services, head to wecarepeople.org.
