Milwaukee agencies form new coalition
We are pleased to announce that through the leadership of Mental Health America of Wisconsin (MHA) and Jewish Family Services, Inc. (JFS), a new coalition has been formed: Prevent Suicide Greater Milwaukee. This new coalition is part of the wider effort of the state-wide initiative: Prevent Suicide Wisconsin.
In addition to the lead agencies, a variety of individuals, local agencies and organizations have helped form this coalition to address the rising incidence of death by suicide in our community including: the National Alliance of Mental Illness of Greater Milwaukee; Dryhootch; United Migrant Opportunity Services; the Community Mental Health Education Project, a program of JFS; University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's Associate Professor of Psychology, Jonathan Kanter, Ph.D,; and Director of Health Promotion and Wellness-Norris Health Center, Barbara Moser, MD and others.
The vision of Prevent Suicide Greater Milwaukee is that community awareness and education will lead to early intervention and prevent attempted and completed suicides. For its first year, Prevent Suicide Greater Milwaukee has identified three goals:
- Provide QPR (Question, Persuade, Refer) Suicide Prevention Gatekeeper Training to groups throughout the community. QPR Gatekeeper Training prepares people to recognize a potential suicide crisis and know how and where to find help.
- Develop a handout and a web site that identifies local, state and national resources and information pertaining to suicide prevention.
- Create an outreach program for businesses to raise awareness about issues of mental health and suicide prevention in the workplace.