Youth Suicide Prevention Project
(YSPP)
We recently received a grant to create and launch a Youth Suicide Prevention project across the 3C's. The Grant comes from Alberta's commitment to preventing youth suicide and improving the health and well-being of young people. This project will be a rural youth-led initiative that provides training, education, and awareness for front-line workers, families, community members, and youth. The intent is for our target group to recognize the signs of and reduce the stigma associated with mental illness, and provide support to those who are struggling with mental illness, are contemplating or have attempted suicide, and/or who are struggling with loss due to suicide.
If you need to talk
About the Project
In the first year of the project, a set of individuals will be trained as Gatekeeper training instructors, who will subsequently provide this training to youth, community members, front-line workers, teachers, parents, and caregivers in the communities of Castor, Coronation, Consort, Halkirk, Brownfield, Veteran and Altario.
​In year two of the project, we created a peer to peer support program using existing youth groups and school groups. ‘Leading with Hope’ was the name chosen via a Facebook poll in May 2024, following the name decision we invited all of our schools or youth programs to participate in the 4-6 session program which highlights Mental Health and Suicide Awareness support in the communities.
TRAINING
We are hosting several training opportunities across the 3C’s and surrounding areas for Students, the Public, Schools, and Front Line Workers.
Our 90-minute Gatekeeper sessions are led by a local QPR Instructor. The training will equip the trainee with basic information about suicide, how to spot someone at risk, and what to do or say. The training utilizes QPR (Question, Persuade, and Refer) model and is appropriate for all groups.
RESOURCES
There are many resources available online for Community members, School personnel, Public Health, and other professionals as they work together to prevent Youth Suicide in their communities. The links to publications and other internet resources are from the Government, Educational institutions, or trusted organizations.
Project evaluation
Over the 2 years, we provided training to over 200 community members in the seven communities. This exceeded our initial number of 90.
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We are so proud of the work and support the communities have given us over the duration of the project. To read our project evaluation and learn more about our achievements please click the link below.
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Are you needing more information, or would you like us to provide training to a group, please contact our Youth Suicide Prevention Project Manager Jenna at nhcommunityprojects@gmail.com