Our Programs
Vision:
A world where no young person of color dies by suicide
Mission:
The Defensive Line Fundamentals
Storytelling and Advocacy
- Speakers who are vulnerable storytellers with lived experiences of mental health, suicide to share messages of hope.
- Storytelling and advocacy seeks to reduce stigma and open conversation.
- By talking openly and honestly about what these internal experiences feel like we takeaway the shame and therefore take away
stigma that keeps people silent in their suffering.
Suicide Prevention Workshops
- Speakers present an overview of the problem through fact-based evidence, introduce language, risk factors, warning signs
- Targeted to schools with 50%+ students of color
- D-LINES discussion for teachers to naturally connect with students on their mental health
- Design Plan of Action to identify, intervene, and refer students in crisis to help reduce stigma that keeps people silent in their suffering.
Are you in crisis or need to talk to someone?
TEXT “home” to 741741 or CALL, TEXT, or CHAT 988 24/7 days a week
Suicide Prevention
Workshop Pilot Data
- 40% increase in teacher’s comfort level of identifying signs of mental health challenges 90% of participants felt comfortable to very comfortable having a mental health conversation after the training
- 30% reduction in feelings of discomfort with approaching a mental health conversation
- 30% increase in a plan of action for suicide intervention – almost 100% of teachers had a plan by end of training
- 50% increase in feelings of sufficient suicide training
- 100% of respondents felt training was useful in creating action steps to support their students
The Defensive Line will support schools long-term in their individual efforts to prioritize suicide prevention for all students by consulting with schools to support their expansion of programmatic efforts to prevent suicide and support the mental health of all students. We believe by focusing on the adults in schools we can shift an objective view on warning signs for suicide and individual approaches to intervening more confidently in a mental health crisis. We’re not teaching everyone to be a crisis counselor, we’re helping people connect on a human level to each other’s suffering. This will help build connections between young people and the adults that serve them to activate communities to better care for themselves.
Ways to Get Involved
Donate
Connect TDL to a school in your area
Share our work with your network
Become a facilitator
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