Excerpt from our Network video –
“A little over 14 years ago, I lost my dad to suicide.
A friend gave me information about the Barb Smith Suicide Resource Network and I decided to attend my first support group meeting. It was very uncomfortable, I didn’t enjoy it at all. But, like we tell folks, you have got to give it a try two or three times before you can decide if it’s right for you.
I did that, and I got more comfortable with it because I realized that these people were the only people who had a clue as to what I was going through. I could draw strength and hope from them, learn from what they had to say and hopefully learn how to live with the experience and have a good life going forward.
It’s very critical to talk to folks who are on the grief journey by suicide. We’ve all lost people in our lives, but the grief suicide brings is very different. Hopefully, folks never have to experience it but if they do, the best way to get through it is to learn from people who are already on that path.
I became involved in the Network because I wanted to give back, to help people go through what I went through. We’ve succeeded in that. We’ve prevented suicides and kept families from having to go through the grief I went through, and that keeps me coming back.
I know my dad’s death wasn’t in vain, and that there is purpose coming out of it.
If someone is reading this and they feel we could help them, please give us a call.”
– Craig Voorheis, Board President
