Coaches' Perspectives: National Suicide Prevention Week

Coaches' Perspectives posts are a look at the Out of the Darkness Overnight community from the perspective of one of our Walker Coaches. Walker Coaches are Overnight Walk staff members who personally work with thousands of individuals interested in and already participating in the Overnight. Every Walker has a Coach as a point of contact in the office to help them with fundraising, training, and to offer general support.

Walker Coach Jason Krumenaker begins
Preview and Training Day 2012
(http://leann-myafspovernightjourney2012.blogspot.com/)

I have had the privilege of being a Walker Coach for the Overnight for the last two seasons. The 2012 Overnight Walk in San Francisco marked my first opportunity to work with the Overnight Walk's online social network. It was incredible to see so many stories from Walkers and Crew members alike - stories about individual connections to the cause, experiences with the Out of the Darkness Overnight Walk community, and most importantly, stories about how each and every participant is raising awareness. Being part of the Overnight's social network made me all the more excited when September 9^th rolled around this year.

September 9^th-15^th marked the 2012 National Suicide Prevention Week; an opportunity for supporters and survivors to join together to do what they can to prevent suicide. As expected, the Overnight Walk's Facebook page saw a huge increase in visitors sharing their personal experiences and making others aware that suicide could be prevented. Seeing those interactions was empowering. Seeing that so many people cared enough to publicly say they wanted to remove the stigma surrounding suicide was an amazing sight.

However, as September 15^th came and went - something felt wrong.

By September 17^th, traffic to the Overnight Walk's Facebook page dropped, almost as if suicide prevention was not as important as it was just two days earlier.

That feeling stood out to me more than anything else.

One of the most impressive aspects of the Overnight community is that participants see every day as an opportunity. Every day is a chance to have a new conversation, share another story, or let someone know that they are not alone. As such a strong community we can't let suicide prevention be reduced to only one or two weeks a year.

One thing I learned between September 9^th and 15^th was that we must take steps every day, because if we don't continue moving forward we will never be able to achieve a world without suicide. Thank you for the steps you have taken as part of the Overnight Community and the steps you continue to take each year. Let's not lose the momentum we gained during National Suicide Prevention Week.

-Jason Krumenaker

Walker Coach