VALDOSTA – September is Suicide Prevention & Awareness Month which is a time to raise awareness on this stigmatized, and often taboo, topic. 

United2Prevent is a local task force comprised of community members.

Dr. Charlene Blache and Terri Walker serve as chair and co-chair of the task force. The board consists of suicide survivors who have lost loved ones to suicide, a licensed mental health therapist, pastors, medical providers and several others who are each motivated and committed to this cause for various reasons. 

United2Prevent’s mission is “to increase our community’s awareness, understanding and knowledge of suicide so that people contemplating taking their own lives can be helped before they choose it as the solution to their suffering.”

Taylor Powell lost her 25-year-old boyfriend, Thad, to suicide on Sept. 5, 2018.

“I do what I do for this cause in his memory in the hopes that I can prevent others from experiencing the same painful loss that I have,” she said.

“How he died does not reflect how he lived. We need to be more gracious to those who have lost loved ones and we need to speak out because there are so many people that are suffering in silence.”

Powell serves as marketing and communications director for United2Prevent Task Force after being urged to join the board by Dr. Leah McMillan, DPA, LMFT, CFRC, owner/founder/clinical therapist of EnSpire Counseling & Wellness and secretary for the United2Prevent Task Force.

“The last 19 months with the COVID-19 pandemic has been a struggle for everyone. Individuals have suffered a lot,” McMillan said. “Isolation, anxiety, and depression have increased. We want to bring light to those who are suffering and help them understand your life is worth living. You matter.”

Since the organization’s April 3 inception, United2Prevent has been in the community and on Valdosta State University campus.

Three focus areas of United2Prevent Task Force are:

– To prevent suicide.

– To bring awareness to suicide. 

– To destigmatize mental illness. 

“The statistics are ‘suicide is the second leading cause of death for people ages 10-34 in the U.S.’ and ‘one in every 100 deaths worldwide is the result of suicide,’” McMillan said.

The task force hopes to reach the community through various types of outreach projects providing accurate and substantial information on the suicide epidemic that is growing in the community, state and nation.

For more information on the United2Prevent Task Force, 406 M. Northside Drive, email united2prevent@gmail.com, visit united2preventsuicide.com, Facebook and Instagram @united2prevent.