Today we’d like to introduce you to Louisa Rocque.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I am the Area Director for the Greater Los Angeles & Central Coast Chapter for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP). In high school, I lost a friend to suicide and the time, I didn’t talk about it much or really feel like I had the ability/tools to process it because the topic was so stigmatized. While stigma is decreasing, I think there is a lot that still needs to be done. I also previously worked at an organization with foster youth, many of which had trauma and suicidal ideations and attempts. For the past 7 years, I have been teaching suicide prevention/intervention skills as well as trying to do everything that I can to ensure that others are aware of warning signs and know how to start a conversation with someone who is struggling. Both my personal and professional experience, led me to want to do more, to decrease statistics as much as possible. I want people who are struggling, to know that they are not alone, and they are worth it.
I started with AFSP in March of 2020, about a week before the pandemic really hit. It has been an amazing experience, and while the pandemic has been an extremely hard time for a lot of people, I am thankful that it has brought the topic of mental health and suicide prevention to forefront of a lot of conversations. AFSP has really tried to elevate our voices as much as possible during this time, because it is needed.
I am grateful that I found AFSP because it has helped my own grieving journey. Also, AFSP is the face of suicide prevention- it’s a voluntary health organization that gives those affected by suicide a nationwide community empowered by research, education and advocacy to take action against this leading cause of death. The organization is dedicated to saving lives and bringing hope to those affected by suicide. AFSP creates a culture that’s smart about mental health by engaging in funding scientific research, educating the public about mental health and suicide prevention, advocating for public policies in mental health and suicide prevention, supporting survivors of suicide loss and those affected by suicide in our mission.
AFSP has local chapters in all 50 states with programs and events nationwide, but our local chapter has one staff (myself), 11 volunteer Board Members, over 500 general volunteers and over 1,000 Field Advocates that serve the counties with our chapter (Los Angeles, Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo).
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
Definitely not. Establishing a presence as a suicide prevention nonprofit has had many challenges since day one because of the strong stigma surrounding mental health and suicide. Besides myself, we are a completely volunteer-driven chapter which presents challenges of its own as a majority of our volunteers have a personal connection to suicide loss/personal attempts. The fluid nature of the grieving process sometimes inhibits the volunteers’ ability to consistently remain active in their volunteer roles. While we have made strides in recent years in opening the conversation surrounding suicide prevention, the obstacles embedded in stigma remain constant.
With pandemic restrictions over this last year not allowing us to have in person events, we missed out on a main component of what we do, connecting people with others who have had similar experiences to let them know they are not alone. We, like everyone else, had to quickly adjust and navigate through the virtual space. Despite the circumstances, I think we have done an amazing job at growing our community of support and providing events/programs virtually.
Our suicide prevention education programs change attitudes, culture, and behavior. One example: Teachers who’ve received our More Than Sad training had increased engagement with struggling students and increased referrals of students to needed help, as compared to those without the training. Since launching in 2015, AFSP’s Talk Saves Lives™ education program – available in person or virtually —has reached nearly 150,000 people across all 50 states with science-informed education about suicide and how we can all help prevent it.
With the outbreak of COVID-19, our local chapters met the challenge by adapting our programs from in-person to virtual, with over 500 presentations in four months alone, including the debut of our new program, Enhancing Mental Health During COVID-19.
We launched a campaign effort at the start of the pandemic to educate the public about the importance of safeguarding mental health for you and loved ones through traditional and social media. The Taking Care of Your Mental Health blog alone reached over 900,000 people in March 2020.
We wanted to send the message that although restrictions are not allowing us to be there to support one another in person, mental health and suicide prevention/awareness is not canceled, and our ability to connect with one another is not canceled. We are there for one another, we are still raising our voices, and no one is alone.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
As an organization, we focus both nationally and locally on our main four core strategies of funding scientific research, educating the public about mental health and suicide prevention, advocating for public policies in mental health and suicide prevention, supporting survivors of suicide loss and those affected by suicide in our mission.
Essentially, anything suicide prevention-related, our organization is constantly trying to get in front of, being the leaders and giving or connecting resources to arm anyone and everyone so that we can decrease the rate of suicide within our country. Suicide isn’t siloed either. We are always working on identifying new partnerships- whether it be with physicians, emergency rooms, emergency response teams, the firearms-owning community, schools, workplaces, you name it.
To give you some examples of the work we do, AFSP funds groundbreaking suicide research, laying the foundation for the most important findings in the field. This year we’re funding 38 new studies, bringing our total current investment to $20 million, with 100 ongoing studies. Through research, we can discover new ways to save lives. Most of the world’s leading suicide prevention researchers have been supported by AFSP at some point in their career, and these studies have made major contributions in preventing suicide.
Through our 28,000 (nationally) voluntary Field Advocates, we’re leading the way in mental health and suicide prevention advocacy with over 50 state laws and 13 major federal policies being enacted into legislation in the last few years alone. Most recently, AFSP played a lead role in establishing 9-8-8 as a three-digit number for people in crisis.
We’re a “grassroots-meets-science” organization with a longstanding dedication to supporting survivors of suicide loss. Our nationwide network of local chapters helps deliver programs like Healing Conversations, which gives those who have lost someone the opportunity to speak with a trained peer who can share comfort and resources. Additionally, on the Saturday before Thanksgiving each year, AFSP supports hundreds of large and small International Survivors of Suicide Loss Day events around the world, in which suicide loss survivors come together to find comfort and understanding through their shared experience. In 2019, 417 events were hosted in 26 countries around the world.
Our Interactive Screening Program is used by mental health services at hundreds of schools, workplaces, and other organizations, giving people a safe and anonymous way to reach out for support. ISP has connected over 180,000 people (nationally) to help they would not have sought otherwise.
Both nationally and locally, we’re working in collaboration with the media & entertainment industry to shine a light and hopefulness on mental health and ways that we can support people who are struggling – long before a suicidal crisis. By working with content creators, the stories told are informed by research, portrayed in ways that hope and recovery is possible and safe for viewers who may be struggling.
The work that we do both on the local grounds and at the national level wouldn’t be possible without all of the funds that are raised at our events and donations throughout the year. Whether you have been personally affected by suicide or just believe in mental health awareness and suicide prevention, everyone is welcome to join our events. Every year, we host our signature fall Out of the Darkness Walks, of which our chapter hosts in five different locations- Pasadena, Santa Monica, Ventura County, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo. We also have Campus Walks which take place on various college campuses throughout our chapter, as well third-party fundraisers where we have seen a variety of creative ideas, spanning from car washes, birthday parties to live-streamed twitch events, concerts, etc. It has been incredible to see both the variety of platforms for events as well as the creativity displayed in events. It is oftentimes a way for families to connect their friends and family to the cause, remember their lost loved ones, or for people to use their stages and voices to raise awareness and help us to move our mission forward.
No one’s mental health is fully supported until everyone’s mental health is fully supported. We must prioritize our mental health as much as our physical health and encourage those who are struggling to seek help. It is important that we continue to raise our voices in awareness and continue to raise funds to support our mission in order to break down barriers to mental health access and stigma surrounding mental health and suicide prevention.
If you are interested in joining us at an upcoming event, would like to create your own, or would like to be involved in volunteering in any of the areas mentioned above, please visit www.afsp.org/la and/or reach out via email to [email protected]. Additionally, if you would like to bring our prevention education programs to your workplace, schools, etc., let’s connect.
Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
I am continuously inspired by all of the volunteers, Board Members and staff who have turned their connection to the cause, their grief, into action. They are out of the front lines advocating, providing support for those who lost someone to suicide, the brains and hands behind our events, and empowering our communities with the information to keep everyone safe. They are also identifying gaps and figuring out how we can bridge them.
AFSP has a bold goal of working to decrease the rate of suicide by 20% by year 2025. With that bold goal in mind, they never stop. Seeing their gas pedal to the floor is what continues to fuel me to do more. I think it is unique that while we are community supporting each other, we are constantly fueled by each other’s efforts and wanting to do more.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: www.afsp.org/la
- Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/afsp_lacentralcoast
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AFSPLACentralCoast/
- Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/AFSPLACenCoast
- Other: http://msha.ke/afspglacc
Image Credits:
The last two images photo credit goes to Corbin Tyler Simms
