Community advocates rally to raise awareness of mental health causes

Sonoma County, a community, continues to honor the life of a young man whose death by suicide left an unimaginable void for his family and friends. Zane Templin of Santa Rosa was just 24 years old when he died. In the years since, his parents have turned their heartbreak into a mission, creating an organization dedicated to raising awareness about mental health and helping prevent suicide. And on Friday, that mission brought together a community of supporters for High Heels for Hope. That is the organization's largest fundraiser of the year. And among the speakers was Hillary Astor, executive director for the great San Francisco Bay Area of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. And Hillary joins me now live this afternoon. Thanks so much for joining me. Why did you want to be a part of this event and what message did you hope people would take away? It was such a pleasure to be part of the High Heels for Hope Gala. Zane Templin's memory, Fran has managed to honor that memory in such an extraordinary way. When people experience a tragic loss such as that one, they can react in so many different ways. And Fran truly is heroic and brave in managing to honor his memory by creating a foundation that provides direct mental health services for youth and young adults. The message that I hope people take away is that suicide is a public health issue and that it is preventable. And we all have a part to play in reaching out to someone that we might be concerned about. Yeah, we certainly do. And when you talk, though, about families and friends, how important is it that they turn those experiences into conversations and action like we saw in Santa Rosa on Friday? Everybody responds to grief in different ways. I think if If there's somebody that you are concerned about, it's. Very important that you reach out to them and have that personal conversation. You can take them aside, let them know that you care, let them know that help is available. But a really key thing to keep in mind is that you should assume that you'll be the only person who reaches out and you can really make a profound difference in somebody's life. Yeah. So what should family and friends be looking for when someone may be struggling, Hillary? Well, especially at this time of year, the holidays can be a very difficult time and really no one should have to walk into that alone. So what you would be looking for is changes in mood, changes in behavior, differences, for example, in how somebody's sleeping or eating or talking. Any significant change can be a warning sign or a risk factor, but trust your gut. Some people think mistakenly that if you ask someone directly about suicide, that you're going to be giving them the idea. And research shows that's not the case. And in fact, asking someone directly can help reduce some of the stigma around suicide and actually lead to seeking behaviors. Okay, so let's talk a little bit about what your organization does and how you hope to go about spreading the word and also preventing suicide. Yeah, absolutely. So the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention works in four major ways to reduce suicide and raise awareness. And those are research, advocacy, education, and loss and healing. So on the research side, AFSP is the largest private national funder of suicide prevention research. And we fund scientists to study things like the importance of culturally appropriate care. Or what are some of those warning signs and risk factors to look out for? On the advocacy side, we work in federally and also in every state in the nation. So we send folks to D.C. The dozens of us go up to Sacramento every year to advocate for better public policies and more funding for mental health. On the education side, we have programs like Talk Saves Lives, which can provide training for your workplace or your school or your community group and can help guide you through how to have what can be a difficult conversation with someone that you're concerned about. And then under loss and healing, we provide resources and support for anyone who might have lost a friend or a loved one to suicide. Yeah, you also have some community Activities, including walks and other efforts to raise awareness and support people. How can people get involved in those walks? I really hope people will get involved in those walks. Those walks are the ways that we raise the funds to provide the services that I just described. So please find us online, AFSP.org slash SF Bay Area. Join us at one of our out of the darkness walks. Just this past September, we had 1,000 people walking down the Embarcadero with our shirts and our signs, all really proudly sharing the message that mental health matters. And these events, these out of the darkness walks that happened in the fall and the spring are volunteer led and volunteer driven. So we absolutely need community support in order to continue to make these events happen. Fran Templin actually has been one of our major supporters and has raised more than $200,000 for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. We're so grateful and honored. Yeah, she is really, I say that she is a I've never met someone with a bigger heart than Fran, and she is so purpose-driven, and now she really wants to prevent other people from experiencing what she has. And that's what Friday night was a reminder of, Hillary, that there are so many people who care about this issue and who really want to make a difference. Yeah, there sure are. It was an honor to be among them. Well, thank you so much, Hilary. Thank you for what you're doing. Appreciate it. It really does matter. Thank you so much. Thank you. Great to see you, Heather. Nice to see you too. And a quick reminder that there is mental health support available for free anytime. The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, it's right there on your screen. It is 988. Yeah. Good reminders there. You know, it's, you know, reaching out to people. Yeah. Checking on them. Friends, loved ones, neighbors who may be in trouble. So important. All right, Heather.