NATIONAL SUICIDE PREVENTION WEEK BRINGS AWARENESS, FASHION SHOW FUNDRAISER
Georgia mental health services provider, non-profit leads conversation with style.
ATLANTA (September X, 2021) – As the U.S. observes National Suicide Prevention Week from Sept. 5 – 11, Georgia-based mental health services provider and 501c3 non-profit Self Discovery: Pain Positioning and Purpose (SDp3) is spreading awareness with style. Last Saturday, Sept. 11, the organization hosted “Honoring and Celebrating”— a fashion show and suicide awareness fundraiser.
“During the pandemic, suicide rates have continued to increase which is why now more than ever it’s important to make everyone aware of the warning signs and prevention resources,” said Venessa D. Anderson-Abram, mental health professional and Executive Director of Self Discovery: Pain Positioning and Purpose (SDp3), which she founded in 2015 following her brother’s suicide. “We are pleased to bring our fashion show fundraiser to Atlanta, highlighting suicide survivors and those we’ve unfortunately lost to mental illness.”
The fashion show hosted by artist Nella-Joi honored Sharon Gary-Dill Hackney of Fashion D’Shacourt Studios. Clothing Designers Wilbourn Sisters Designs and Lawanda Scales of Wisper Couture were also featured in the show coordinated by Terri Stevens, CEO of Face2Face Talent and Modeling Agency. Hip hop artist Q Starnes also performed his motivational single “You’re Enough,” and mental health advocate and author Ashley Smith made an appearance.
This year’s National Suicide Prevention Week came as a recently published report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicated an increase in emergency room visits for suspected suicide attempts at the onset of the pandemic. In,kearly 2021, emergency room visits involving suspected attempted suicides were 50.6 percent higher among certain groups than during the same period in 2019. SDp3 works to prevent suicide and foster recovery through evidence-based and trauma-informed resiliency seminars, training and workshops, private coaching and mentoring, and coordination of community-based resources. SDp3 has served more than 20,000 people since its inception.
The event was held at Peers Empowering Peers located at 7770 Roswell Road in Sandy Springs. Red carpet interviews began at 2 p.m., and the program began at 3 p.m.
Tickets were $20 and purchased at www.sdp3.org. Covid-19 protocols, including mask requirements, were followed.
The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) has a toll-free hotline for those who might be in crisis.
About Self Discovery: Pain, Positioning & Purpose, Inc.TM (SDp3) has made it a mission to raise awareness about mental illness, mental health, bullying, suicide, and suicide prevention in order to provide assistance and information to individuals, families, communities, and organizations, and put an end to the stigma surrounding these issues. SDp3 utilizes various means, including technology, to interact with an international demographic of children, adolescents, and adults who seek assistance with and have been affected by mental illness, bullying, suicide, and suicidal thoughts.
SDp3 is proudly supported by grant partners including The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta, Cobb Collaborative, Jesse Parker Williams Foundation, Costco, Sam’s Club, Build-a-Bear, Deupree Family Foundation, and Steel City Gospel Radio, amongst others.