Northern Initiative for Social Action (NISA) in Sudbury will be the home to Canada's first ever alternatives to suicide program, thanks to a $5,000 grant from the Bell Let's Talk community fund.
The grant announcement was made on Nov. 24 at NISA, and the program will be up and running in 2018. The Alternatives to Suicide support group is made up of 13 facilitators from both NISA and Sudbury Action Centre for Youth (SACY).
Bell Let's Talk funding will be used to pay for the training the facilitators went through earlier this year, an intensive three-day course that was run by the Western Massachusetts Recovery and Wellness Centre.
"Many people live every day with suicidal thoughts," said Dinah Laprairie, executive director, NISA. "Up to 11 people a day die by suicide in Canada, yet the stigma makes it difficult for people to speak up about what they're experiencing."
Those who were trained to be facilitators in the program are among the group who have had their own experiences with suicidal thoughts and the program is not designed to diagnose people, but rather provide a network of support of people with shared experiences.
Sylvie Gravelle is an administrative assistant with NISA and is one of the 13 people who went through the training.
"Having lived these experience and seen the other side it's really about listening to people who are going through this and letting them know they're not alone, and that other people go through the same things every day," said Gravelle.
"Bell stepping up to fund this program is very humbling and it's a pretty fitting ... that it's Let's Talk, because that's what this program is about, is talking."
Since 2010, Bell Let's Talk has been providing grant support for programs just like the Alternatives to Suicide program here in Sudbury, and oftentimes go out of their way to seek out new programs to lend their support to.
"We're always looking for programs like this, they don't always find us," said Sandy McDonald, regional director of community affairs, Bell Let's Talk. "This program came highly recommended and we're really happy to be a part of it."
The new support group will address the needs of people who live with suicidal thoughts and provide them with the opportunity to voice their feelings of pain, shame and disconnection. The new facilitators from NISA and SACY will be delivering the program for people living in the Sudbury area in early 2018.
"A lot of people feel alone or disconnected or ashamed when they're dealing with suicidal thoughts," said Laprairie. "This support group is meant to be a safe, non-judgemental environment for people who need it most."
People interested in attending the Alternatives to Suicide support group sessions can call Kaarina Ranta at 705-222-6472 ext. 305.
The schedule will also be available on NISA's monthly calendar at www.nisa.on.ca.
