The Community Foundation of the Ozarks awarded a three-year, $300k grant to Burrell Behavioral Health. The funding will go toward programs that prevent suicide through the Springfield Comprehensive Suicide Prevention Plan.
The plan includes an expansion of three existing Burrell programs that deal with mental health. One of the programs, theBe Well Initiative, focuses on mental wellness in community and workplace environments while targeting specific high-risk populations.
“We identified three populations right here in our own town that we know are struggling," said the Be Well program’s engagement leader, Nia Howard. “One of those is men age 45 and over as they have the highest suicide completion rate.”
Howard said their goal is to normalize conversations about men’s mental health and increase community connections to support one another.
“Men aren't the ones that are going to be open with their feelings,” said Howard.
In the Ozarks, Missouri middle-aged men are at the highest risk of suicide with ratings three times higher than others in the same age group. To increase suicide awareness and prevention, the Be Well program will host the Men’s Mental Health League on Saturday, April 27. This event will address Springfield’s high male suicide rate by encouraging participants to engage in conversations about their mental health.
“A lot of people think that if they ask the wrong question or in the wrong way, they may have inadvertently made that person feel worse, and that just isn't the case,” said Howard. “We have many instances of people who were feeling very poorly. They were thinking about suicide for days, weeks, years, and their biggest hope was for someone to ask them how they are.”
The league will be held at Hammons Field from 8 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. At the event, participants will have the opportunity to tour the field and hear from MLB outfielder, Drew Robinson, who speaks about his own mental health after a suicide attempt. While the event is marketed for male participants, all are welcome to attend.