Suicide Prevention Starts Before a Crisis

By Kim Hinzy, LCSW

Kim is a practicing mental health therapist and non-profit professional. She currently works as the Community Programs Manager at LEAF supporting Greater Lyons residents through resource navigation, mental health services, prevention efforts, and community connection. 

September is Suicide Prevention Month, a time when we often focus on recognizing warning signs, knowing what to say, and helping someone in crisis. Those things matter enormously.

But suicide prevention can begin long before a crisis.

Suicidal thinking can develop from many intersecting factors: depression or other mental health conditions, trauma, substance use, grief and loss, relationship challenges, chronic pain or illness, financial or housing instability, discrimination, social isolation, and other significant stressors.

At LEAF, we see these connections every day. We believe services like the Food Pantry, Meals on Wheels, Financial Assistance, and Resource Navigation are an important part of supporting mental health and preventing crises in our community. Food insecurity, financial stress, housing instability, and difficulty accessing care can take a tremendous toll on mental health. Helping someone meet an immediate need doesn’t solve everything they may be facing. But stability creates breathing room. Connection reminds us that we don’t have to navigate hard things alone. And having a trusted place to turn can make it easier to ask for help when we need it.

That is part of suicide prevention, too.

This fall, in addition to our weekly services, LEAF is offering several opportunities for our community to put prevention into practice.

Steps for Hope: A Walk to Change the Narrative on Suicide is a short community walk on Sunday, September 20, from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. We’ll gather in Bohn Park on the west side of the pedestrian bridge near the entrance to the Botanic Gardens at 4:00 p.m. After some words of hope and reflection, we’ll walk together to LEAF for refreshments, conversation, resources, and music by Antonio Lopez.

Participants will also have the opportunity to register for FREE QPR suicide prevention training in October, offered in partnership with Clinica Family Health & Wellness. QPR stands for Question, Persuade, and Refer. The training teaches community members how to recognize warning signs, ask directly about suicide, and connect someone with appropriate support. You don’t have to be a mental health professional to make a difference. Knowing how to notice, ask, listen, and help someone find support can matter.

This fall, LEAF will also offer a grief group for adults navigating significant loss. The group will provide a small, supportive space to explore grief through conversation, nature-based practices, reflection, and ritual. More details will be available at the walk. 

These programs are part of LEAF’s broader approach to mental health. Along with the Food Pantry, Meals on Wheels, Financial Assistance, and Resource Navigation, LEAF continues to offer expanded access to therapy, youth prevention programs, wellness offerings, and opportunities for people to connect and belong.

Suicide prevention belongs to all of us. It happens through professional treatment and crisis intervention, but it also happens upstream: by reducing hardship, strengthening connection, building skills, noticing when someone is struggling, and creating a community where asking for help is met with dignity and care.

This Suicide Prevention Month, prevention can begin with something simple. Learn how to help. Check on someone you care about. Come walk with us. Make a little more room for one another. Because feeling less alone matters.

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If you or someone you know is struggling, help is available. Call or text 988 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, available 24/7.