Since its inception, SDp3 has provided education, training, counseling, resources, and/or referral services for an estimated 45,000 people impacted by or contemplating suicide. In 90% of cases, we have succeeded in deescalating the client’s emotional crisis and coordinating resources and referrals for follow-up care. The remaining 10% of cases were referred to partnering agencies for inpatient and/or intensive outpatient programs. We continue to increase capacity through our volunteer program and transition into online learning. Finally, SDp3 has also committed to an activity-based model that engages youth through 12th-grade curricula with enrichment activities that benefit students academically and consider their social-emotional wellness and self-image.
For instance, our “Taking Off the Mask Project” focuses on strengthening access and delivery of suicide care and creating protective environments, impacting an estimated 8,000 people to date. We offered 200 sessions in both 2018 and 2019. In 2020, we were able to serve ~6,500 people in spite of COVID. For another key 2020 program, “Wellness & Resiliency”, we partnered with Community Foundation of Greater Atlanta, Resilient Georgia, Mary Hall Freedom Village, National Alliance on Mental Illness, Cobb Collaborative, In the Key of Dance, Steel City Gospel Radio, Inspirations Hair Studio, Deupree Family Foundation, Build-A-Bear, Covenant House, DEWLYN, NAMI, Nicholas House, American Woodmark, Safety Net, Within Our Reach and Kate’s Club. We provided providing weekly virtual and onsite mental health, suicide prevention, and resiliency workshops that successfully reached an estimated 15,250 participants/attendees, including school administrations in Cherokee, Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Douglas, Fayette, Forsyth, Fulton, Gwinnett, Henry, and Rockdale counties, as well as ~1,500 participants in Florida. This program has resulted in zero suicides from 2020 to the present and inspired progress toward a culture of health. This project has also helped create healthy communities and lifestyles by cultivating mindfulness and self-compassion skills, which are proven to increase healthy choices and behaviors.