As Suicide Prevention Month 2023 winds down, we are excited to share some highlights of our outreach work. We have traveled across Oregon and even ventured to Northern California to deliver our menu of suicide and substance abuse prevention resources, including successfully debuting our new de-escalation training.
We have been guests on podcasts, continued with our virtual QPR training, and have been energized by connecting with construction professionals and learning how they are working to improve the lives of construction workers across our region and beyond.
Here are some of the events we were able to be involved in:
Setting and Clearing The Table
We started the month tabling at a wellness fair at a large construction site in Hillsboro, sharing our resources, distributing our 988 hardhat stickers, and connecting with tradespeople on their breaks.
We capped the month with a trip to Bend to attend the Central Oregon Safety and Health Conference. We appreciated the opportunity to connect and share our resources with construction professionals working in Central Oregon.
QPR Virtual and In-Person
During the first week of suicide prevention month, we delivered virtual QPR training for a company with construction projects in New Mexico and Arizona. Then, we headed back to the Hillsboro site to give an in-person QPR training. We had great discussions about utilizing 988 as a resource.
In the middle of the month, we traveled south to the Knife River Training Center in Albany to deliver another in-person QPR training for the Oregon SHARP (Safety and Health Achievement Recognition Program) Alliance. SHARP promotes safety and cooperation among companies and government for the betterment of all Oregon workers. Their group engaged in in-depth conversations and shared their personal and professional experience around mental health and cultural challenges within the construction industry.
We ended the month with our open virtual QPR training, notching our highest number of attendees to date.
Quick Tangent
Following our SHARP presentation, we made a short drive to the Pacific NW Carpenters Institute in Tangent. We led a safety standdown for their apprentices and passed out hard hat stickers.
Podcast
We were honored to be guests on the Bridging the Iron Podcast with Paul Diaz from Local 29 for the second time. We discussed Narcan, suicide prevention, and sustaining the effort throughout the year.
Local 29 is doing innovative work to support their brothers and sisters–you can learn more about that on our upcoming Boom Goes The Stigma podcast!
ReThink the Drink
We were excited to get up early to deliver our ReThink the Drink presentation to a construction group in Aloha, Oregon. Despite the early hour and Max nearly short-circuiting our computers by spilling water, we brought the energy and had an honest, humorous, and engaging conversation about alcohol with their tradespeople.
We virtually presented to the same company the next day–no tech issues just glitch-free conversation and sharing of resources.
Santa Clara
In a CSPP first, we brought our resources down to Santa Clara, CA. We kicked off our three-day residency by promoting CSPP’s mission and previewing our training topics to their 400 tradespeople. We spent the week in their classroom trailer delivering our suicide prevention, opioids, ReThink the Drink, and debuted our new de-escalation training.
We are grateful to everyone who made our Suicide Prevention Month so successful and fun! We are committed to keeping this momentum with our new and long-time partners!
Check out more pictures from Suicide Prevention Month 2023 on our Photo Gallery Page.
