I didn't think I could live anymore. We lost
daughter Amanda. Almost lost my nephew
Austin. I lost my father to suicide. When
we lost Maddy. After my sister died by suicide.
I don't think there's an words to put to how it
affected me.
The advocacy forum brings people from around the country to tell
their stories in the halls of Capitol Hill,
and to acknowledge that suicide is
huge problem.
AFSP is an incredible organization.
We're made up of volunteers and staff all
across the country in all 50 states, all
working together. It's a preventable
cause of death if we invest in the
prevention, the science and in the policies.
So, we need them to join us and make
suicide prevention a national priority.
We freely talk about our illnesses from
the shoulders down but never from the
shoulders up. So the first step is we
have to have that conversation.
As a leading cause of death, we get the
smallest amount of research dollars. It's
crucial that we have this advocacy
movement if we really want to solve the
problem of suicide.
Well the first thing that we can do to
prevent veteran suicide and actually
all-American suicide, is to make access
to mental health care real. I really
recommend coming to Washington for these
four days. It's some of the most life changing
stuff that will happen for you. It's one of
the best thing that I've done. I can
honestly say that after you ask for
help, things get so much better. So to
become an advocate for AFSP, it's
actually very simple. You can go right onto
our AFSP.org website. They'll get you in touch
the right people and the right resources
you need to start helping today.
