|
|
Article: Communities rally together to address suicide crisis.(community)
- Article from:
- Wind Speaker
- Article date:
- April 1, 2007
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2007 Aboriginal Multi-Media Society of Alberta (AMMSA). This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
The September 2005 suicide of an 11-year-old girl--the ninth person to die by their own hand in the space of six months--galvanized the communities of Clearwater County to come together to find a way to make a difference in the lives of people feeling so alone and hopeless that they were willing to end their lives.
Those nine deaths were just the tip of the iceberg in the central Alberta communities, where 2005 also saw 58 unsuccessful suicide attempts. The oldest person who tried to take their own life was 87, the youngest, only nine.
A community meeting was organized to begin addressing the crisis. During that meeting, one thing became very ...