Scout will dedicate memorial garden at Valleybrook Park
Clarksville, TN – Clarksville Mayor Kim McMillan and the Tennessee Suicide Prevention Network invite the public and allies in the public health, mental health, and social service fields to join in Clarksville’s Suicide Prevention Awareness event at 9:30am Monday, September 10th, 2018 at Valleybrook Park.
Speakers at the event will be Misty Leitsch, Zero Suicide Director for the Tennessee Suicide Prevention Network; Eagle Scout David Keesler, who will dedicate his project to create a suicide remembrance garden at Valleybrook Park; and Mayor McMillan, who will proclaim September as Suicide Prevention Month in Clarksville.
The Clarksville event is part of an international observance to help communities learn about the problem of suicide and how it can be prevented. The brief ceremony will provide an opportunity to remember those lost to suicide; to encourage survivors of suicide attempts; and to support people who have triumphed over mental illness.
Valleybrook Park is at 213 Crossland Avenue, a block off Riverside Drive.
Suicide is the leading cause of violent deaths in America. In Tennessee, an estimated 950 men, women, and children die by suicide each year, more than from homicide, AIDS, or motor vehicle accidents. Suicide is the second-leading cause of death among youth and young adults ages 15-24 in Tennessee and in the United States overall.
In almost all cases, according to suicide prevention experts, suicide can be traced to unrecognized, untreated, or poorly treated mental illness. It can happen to people of either sex, any race or ethnicity, and any economic status.
Information about suicide prevention is available from TSPN at 615.297.1077 or tspn@tspn.org.
