Suicide Prevention Month
2021
Hosted by the Office of Diversity and Equity.
For 2021, San Mateo County, Star Vista and partners are promoting the theme of “Supportive Transitions: Reconnect, Reenter, Rebuild.” Transition can be conceptualized as an event or series of events that cause fundamental changes in the fabric of daily life – what people do, where they do it, and with whom. Transitions, in any shape or size, expected or unexpected, welcomed or not welcomed, can be unsettling, disorienting, and stressful. They can impact our mental health and major life changes have long been understood to be environmental risk factors for suicide. Positive coping skills, resilience, and connectedness to family, friends, and our community can act as protective factors to help us navigate transitions. While the pandemic has changed our fabric of life, it has also strengthened our resilience and resolve. As we re-enter “normal” life -whether it is going back to school, reconnecting with friends, rediscovering favorite places, or reimaging our future, transitions are easier when we navigate them together. Remember, all of us can play a role in suicide prevention. Together we can reconnect, reenter and rebuild for the future.
Each year, the San Mateo County Behavioral Health & Recovery Services Office of Diversity & Equity (ODE) and Suicide Prevention Committee (SPC) publishes a Calendar of Events listing events of Suicide Prevention Month. Unless otherwise noted, all events are free and open to the public. This year events will be in-person and/or virtual.
View our 2021 Calendar of Events in English
and Spanish!
Want to show your support for 2021 Suicide Prevention Month
during your virtual meetings? Please use our custom virtual
background here!
Please continue visiting this page for updates and details on upcoming free SPM events.
Wednesday, September 1 | 3:30pm-5pm
Mental Health Substance Abuse Recovery
Commission
Location:
Zoom Link (Web ID: 992 9860 8126)
Zoom Passcode: 391541 16699006833
Details: Details: This San Mateo County Mental Health
Substance Abuse Recovery Commission will include a presentation
on September Suicide Prevention Month. You may submit public
comments via email or verbally to advocate for suicide
prevention. To email public comment, please send public comment
to Chantae Rochester at crochester@smcgov.org no later than
August 30, at 5:00 p.m. For verbal public comment, please visit
Zoom link above. You can check out these talking points to guide
and inspire your public comment.
Agenda
Tips
on Talking Points
Language: English (interpretation available upon request)
Contact: Sylvia Tang (She/Her/Hers) | stang@smcgov.org |
650-578-7165
Friday, September 10 | 6pm-7pm
Music and Poetry in Observance of World Suicide
Prevention Day
Location: Via Zoom (Registration
Link)
Details: This event will acknowledge the struggle people
have with suicide through music, poetry, and stories from
speakers who have lived experience. There will also be
information about where people can find support locally. Finally
it will end with a call to action to light a candle (or an
approximation of candle) at 8PM.
English flyer | Spanish Flyer
Language: English
Contact: Cynthia Rider, (she/her) | rider@plsinfo.org,
650-558-7407
Monday, September 13th- September 29th | All Day
TAG you’re it: Reconnect, Reenter, Rebuild
Location: Virtual (https://star-vista.org/tag-youre-it/)
Description: StarVistas Health Ambassador Program for Youth
challenges you to reconnect, reenter, and rebuild during
out Tag You’re It week. Show us ways that you apply the
theme: ‘Supportive Transitions: Reconnect, Reenter, Rebuild’ into
your daily life by participating in our challenge for a chance to
win a $50 Target gift card, the more submissions you enter the
higher the chances of winning! Ready to accept the challenge?
please visit Tag
You’re It page for details!
Language: English
Contact: Brenda Nunez (she/her) | brenda.nunez@star-vista.org
Tuesday, September 14 | 9am-11am
Board of Supervisor Proclamation
Location: Board of Supervisor Chambers (Virtual location to be
announced)
Details: Every year, San Mateo County Board of Supervisors
proclaims September as Suicide Prevention Month. Please join in
solidarity with our Board of Supervisors and greater San Mateo
County community. You are also welcome to provide public comment
on this agenda item as well. You can find meeting agenda and live
stream link at https://sanmateocounty.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx.
Tips
on Talking Points
Language: English
Contact: Sylvia Tang (she/her) | stang@smcgov.org
Wednesday, September 15 | 3:30pm
Ask Me Anything Suicide: Candid Conversations on
Suicide
Location: Via Zoom (Registration
Link)
Details: Join us for an enlightening, educational, and
de-stigmatizing discussion about suicide. This “ask me
anything”-style event will allow audience participants to ask
suicide survivors any questions they may have about suicide.
Fellow suicide survivors and those who have less opportunity to
talk about suicide are welcome. The speakers include three
suicide survivors who have graduated from the Lived Experience
Academy speakers training. Recommended for ages 13+
Language: English
Flyer
Contact: Fiona Potter (she/her) | fpotter@redwoodcity.org |
650-780-7056
Wednesday, September 15 | 6pm-7pm
Supporting Mental Wellbeing of San Mateo County
Youth
Location: Via Zoom (Registration
Link)
Details: In recognition of Suicide Awareness Month,
representatives from the San Mateo County Office of Education &
StarVista will be taking a look at the challenges facing the
mental wellness of local youth, and what we might be able to do
to help.
Language: English
Contact: John Weaver (he/they) | jnweaver@menlopark.org
Saturday, September 18 | 10:30am-11:30am
Not in Isolation: A Youth Panel on Intersectionality in
Mental Health
Location: Via Zoom (Registration
Link)
Details: This is a virtual panel featuring youth speakers
(ages 16-24) who will share lived experiences and stories
pertaining to how their multiple identities – with regards to
race/ethnicity, sexual identity, gender, socioeconomic status,
and ability – influence and impact their mental health. The panel
will be followed by a live Q&A.
Language: English, Spanish, Mandarin
Contact: Shirley Mak (she/her/她) | shm119@stanford.edu |
510-324-6574
Monday, September 20 | 6pm
Loved Ones Lost: Hope Beyond Suicide
Location: Zoom (Registration
link)
Details: Those whose lives have been touched by the loss of
a loved one to suicide will share from their hearts their
personal stories. We seek to give hope to those who have survived
this lived experience. We will also have three lived
experience speakers who have survived the loss of a loved
one.
Language: English
Contact: John Butler (he/him) | NewHope8@aol.com
Wednesday, September 22 | 3:30pm-5pm
Building a Resilient Community with Our Youth: Self-Care
Practices for the Supporters
Location: Virtual (Eventbrite
Registration Link)
Details: Join Project Safety Net in exploring the power of
self-care in promoting youth mental health and suicide
prevention. Event will feature a community panel that will share
self-care practices and pandemic reflections. Participants will
have opportunity to explore self-care planning as well as
identify local mental health and suicide prevention
resources.
Language: English
Contact: Peying Lee (she/her) | peying@psnyouth.org |
1-650-460-8305
Saturday, September 25 | 4pm-6pm
Be Sensitive Be Brave Training and Lived Experience
Panel
Location: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (975 Sneath
Lane, San Bruno, CA 94066) – In the Gym
Details: “Be Sensitive, Be Brave for Suicide Prevention” is
foundational workshop in suicide prevention that teaches how to
act as eyes and ears for suicidal distress and connect
individuals with appropriate services. Workshop participants will
learn to recognize suicide risk, how to ask individuals if they
are thinking about suicide, and connect them with help. This
workshop will also discuss navigating conversations about suicide
across diverse populations, with the aim of equipping community
members to be culturally responsive within their communities.
Registration Link
Flyer
Language: English
Contact: Jean Perry (she/her) | jeanpv78@gmail.com |
650-219-7029 (text only)
Sunday, September 26 | 2pm-4pm
Connecting with Community
Location: San Carlos Youth Center (1001 Chestnut St, San Carlos,
CA 94070)
Details: This is an in-person event is for middle and high
schoolers. There will be food, games, raffle prizes, and a guest
speaker discussing how to help a friend who may be feeling
suicidal.
Language: English
Contact: Sarah Fuhs (she/her) | 650-771-4383
Tuesday, September 28 | 11am-1pm
Suicide: The Ripple Effect Movie Screening
Location: Virtual (Registration Link)
Details: Kevin Hines, who at age 19 attempted to take his
life by jumping from the Golden Gate Bridge, chronicles the
impact of his suicide attempt on others and his work as a mental
health advocate since that time.
Language: English
Flyer
Contact: Perry Chen | chenp@smccd.edu
Tuesday, September 28 | 5:30pm-6:30pm
#ReachOut: Community Resources for Mental Health and
Suicide Prevention
Location: Virtual (Eventbrite
Registration Link)
Details: In this collaborative community event, San
Mateo County Health (Suicide Prevention Committee / Office
of Diversity & Equity), StarVista, Sequoia Healthcare
District, and The Parent Venture offer resources for
youth mental health and suicide prevention. This webinar will
provide important information for parents/caregivers and
supportive adults about suicide prevention, including warning
signs, risk factors, and how to support a child/youth who is
struggling.
Language: English (Spanish interpretation available)
Contact: Charlene Margot, MA
(she/her) | cmargot@parentventure.org
Wednesday, September 29 | 10:30am-12pm
Hope & Healing: A Conversation on Suicide
Location: Hybrid – Virtual (Registration Link) &
In-Person (Skyline College - Building 4, Rm 4148)
Details: Suicide: The Ripple Effect Panel Discussion. Kevin
Hines, who at age 19 attempted to take his life by jumping from
the Golden Gate Bridge, chronicles the impact of his suicide
attempt on others and his work as a mental health advocate since
that time.
Language: English
Flyer
Contact: Perry Chen | chenp@smccd.edu
Thursday, September 30 | 4pm-6pm
Be Sensitive Be Brave for Suicide Prevention: A
Foundational Guide With the Diversity and Equity
Council
Location: Virtual (Registration
Link)
Details: “Be Sensitive, Be Brave for Suicide Prevention” is
foundational workshop in suicide prevention that teaches how to
act as eyes and ears for suicidal distress and connect
individuals with appropriate services. Workshop participants will
learn to recognize suicide risk, how to ask individuals if they
are thinking about suicide, and connect them with help. This
workshop will also discuss navigating conversations about suicide
across diverse populations, with the aim of equipping community
members to be culturally responsive within their communities.
Flyer
Language: English with Spanish Interpretation Services
Contact: Brenda Nunez (she/her)
| brenda.nunez@star-vista.org
For general suicide prevention information and resources, please visit smchealth.org/SuicidePrevention.
SPM Social Media Campaign
Interested to share your support for Suicide Prevention Month on social media? Here is our toolkit:
If you have any other questions, please contact STang@smcgov.org.