'Hope and healing': Suicide awareness vigil provides intervention, grief resources

Memories of loved ones lost and resources to help those affected by suicide were shared Thursday evening in Monroe.

The Suicide Awareness, Prevention and Remembrance Vigil and Gathering at St. Mary’s Park, sponsored by the Suicide Prevention Coalition of Monroe County and the the Monroe Community Mental Health Authority, typically has 50-100 attendees and is an opportunity for families and friends to gather and share their stories. The program has many vendors available with resources to help those grieving and also to help navigate conversations that will hopefully break the stigma of pain that prevents people suffering from asking for help.

“We’re blessed to have great vendors with great resources,” said Kaye Lani Rae Rafko Wilson, host of the vigil and executive director of Gabby’s Grief Center. “Hope and healing is possible. One of the goals is to let people know that they’re not alone.”

Amelia Lehto, one of the keynote speakers at the vigil, has spent much of her life working to bring awareness to the lives affected by suicide.

In her address, she remembered her friend who she lost to suicide as a teenager. Lehto’s specialty is in suicide intervention and postvention. She acknowledges that grieving is OK, and that you have to learn how to live in a world that changed in an instant.

George and Vicki Ghareed shared the story of how they lost their son, Christopher, two years ago when he was only 17 years old. After their loss, they found Gabby’s Grief Center and were able to utilize the many resources and support groups both for themselves and for their children.

“It’s hard to go on living, and everyone else went about their lives,” George Ghareed said.

“We aren’t strong enough, we just don’t have a choice,” Vicki Ghareed added. “The thing that helps us is to look for ways that carry on his life.”

To conclude the vigil, attendees were invited to say the name of the loved one that they lost and give a memory of their life. Reese Johnson, Miss Monroe County 2023, sang “For Good” from the musical "Wicked," and Brian Merkle released a dove.

“The dove is a symbol of peace,” Merkle said. “Traditionally, they carry messages. Let’s think of this dove carrying a message to another heavenly or somewhere other home.”

September is Suicide Awareness Month, and the theme in 2023 is “Creating Hope through Action.”

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Lisa Graham, CEO of the Monroe Community Mental Health Authority, believes that events such as the vigil are important for the community and follow this theme by breaking the stigma.

“Stigma means that suicide prevention is not adequately addressed as the significant health problem that it is. Raising community awareness abd breaking down the taboo associated with death by suicide is critical to this coalition’s goal of zero suicides,” Graham said. “This vigil is an opportunity to raise awareness and remove the stigma, and an opportunity to help those who may be suffering know that they are not alone.”

For more information, visit Spcmonroecounty on Facebook. For help, text 988 at any time.

This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Monroe suicide awareness vigil provides intervention, grief resources