Amy Zell tries to cram as many activities as possible into September as it is Suicide Prevention Month.
“We push it as much as we can, because that’s when we can get the best media coverage,” she said.
But, the Brookfield woman, who co-founded Trumbull County LOSS to offer services to survivors of suicide loss, has discovered that there is not only a lack of services offered to people who have lost someone to suicide.
“As we were out doing things, people were coming to us for different forms of grief other than suicide loss,” Zell said. “We have such a need for grief education in our community.”
That led to the creation of Grief and Loss in Motion, a nonprofit that offers peer support for anyone going through traumatic grief and loss.
“We didn’t want to be stuck in that, ‘I’m so sorry. We only serve survivors of suicide loss because that’s what I am,’” Zell said. “I never wanted Tyler’s legacy to be about my loss. I wanted it to be about helping other people.”
Tyler Neral, Zell’s son, died by suicide Nov. 15, 2009, at age 16.
“You can lose a job and come to one of our grief support groups, or a dream,” Zell said. “We had a lady who lost her beauty and youth.”
Grief and Loss in Motion receives funding from Trumbull County Mental Health and Recovery Board, but has started holding programs in other counties because Zell has been requested to do so, although she is limited because those efforts are not funded.
Grief and Loss in Motion has been the beneficiary of generous donations of American Rescue Plan Act funds by Warren Councilman Ashley Miner-McBride to open a maker space in Warren, and by Gemma Power Systems for the purchase of an enclosed trailer.
“I can pull into a McDonald’s with a bathroom nearby and I can run a support group if I want to,” Zell said, although she believes it’s more likely that she will hold maker space activities and awareness events in the trailer.
Grief and Loss will hold what is becoming a signature event in only four short years, a butterfly release, at 11 a.m. Sept. 7 on the green in Brookfield Center. Registration to reserve a butterfly expired on Aug. 30.
It also is planning its first Suicide Awareness Prevention/Postvention Walk at 10 a.m. Sept. 29 at the Brookfield High School athletic stadium, 614 Bedford Road. “It’s awareness, prevention and postvention, so, it’s for everybody, not just survivors of loss,” Zell said.
Zell will offer the program Redefining Wellness After a Loss: A Grief Program at 1 p.m. Sept. 7 at the Brookfield Branch Library, 7032 Grove St. Register by calling 330-448-8134.
Zell also is holding two QPR trainings at the library, at 5 p.m. Sept. 11 and 1 p.m. Sept. 21. QPR is short for question, persuade, refer. The program helps people identify the signs and symptoms of someone who might be considering suicide, and explores how to interact with them.
“Our goal is persuading them to want to seek a resource,” Zell said. “Don’t take that on your own. You want to pull in different resources and teams of people to help them.”
Registration is not required for the QPR trainings.
Grief and Loss also will participate in the House of Bass Suicide Prevention Event from 5 to 8 p.m. Sept. 12 at Quick Mart, 926 S. Irvine Ave., Masury; the SteelHammerzLEMC Ralph Noel Memorial Poker Run at 3 p.m. Sept. 14 at Post Office Pub, 3821 Main St., Mineral Ridge; and Veterans of Foreign Wars District 8 Suicide Awareness Event at 11 a.m. Sept. 7 at Hubbard VFW Post 3766, 710 W. Liberty St., Hubbard.
Grief and Loss holds a Suicide Cafe support group at 6:30 p.m. the first Tuesday of the month at Jimmy Neno’s, 7172 Warren Sharon Road, Brookfield.
“Whatever helps us get awareness out, we’re in,” Zell said. “We’ll do anything.”
Grief and Loss in Motion’s website is at suicidepostvention.org and the group also has a Facebook page.
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