- April 18, 2024
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Dalton Coxwell should be making plans to attend his senior prom and high school graduation. Instead of ordering his graduation announcements, his mom Barbara Coxwell is working with Flagler Cares and Flagler Schools to bring community awareness to suicide awareness and prevention.
It’s a topic she wishes she wasn’t so informed on, but when Dalton took his life on Dec. 18, 2013 she immediately made it her business to be informed, and to inform others.
Flagler Cares, a county-wide initiative to expand the safety net for citizens in need, and Flagler Schools, with Coxwell, are focusing their attention on suicide awareness and prevention for all ages, and especially for those in the 18- to 25-year-old age group.
“As a community, suicide is not something we want to talk about, but we have to talk about it,” Coxwell said.
The groups came together when it was evident the issue spanned all age levels and was more than a school concern.
“Flagler Cares was a good vessel to take this forward,” Executive director of community and student engagement Lynette Shott said.
The group had their second meeting on Monday, Feb. 13 at Florida Hospital Flagler.
“It became evident after looking at the data, we as Flagler County Schools should not be leading the charge, but be a part of the charge,” school board member Colleen Conklin said. “It should be a community-wide holistic approach and include every part of this community that we can.”
Last summer Flagler Cares conducted a community-wide health needs survey and compiled a suicide fact sheet for Flagler County. In this they identified three very different demographics that are considered very fragile: senior citizens, middle-age, and 18 to 25 years old.
“These are fragile transitional periods in everyone’s life,” Conklin said.
The mission is to bring awareness and form a cohesive way to advertise where to turn for help. The goal is to have everything in place by September of this year.
Last year the state legislation adopted a statute for teachers to go through a certified suicide prevention training course, allowing schools to become certified.
“We are working with the high schools at this time, but we are talking about prevention strategies down to the middle school level,” Shott said. “We want to make sure the message isn’t lost that this isn’t a school-wide issue, it’s a community-wide issue and it’s going to require a community wide response.”
The initial goal is to get the word out about what services are currently available and how to access them, as well as bringing awareness to warning signs.
“We need to really figure out what resources are available and how people know about them and access them. Then we can refine it and make it easier,” Flagler Cares Director Carrie Baird said.
One of the group’s goals is to create a directory of resources that would include services and a calendar of events, including training.
The National Suicide Prevention Hotline at 800-273-TALK (8255) has call centers throughout the country and each call is routed to the closest center to the caller.
“The immediate thing someone can do if they are in crisis is to call the suicide helpline, “ Baird said. “Neighbors, relatives, or co-workers need to know what to do when you see the signs, know who to reach out to and how to get them some help.”
Coxwell said that looking at back things that happened that day, including newly prescribed medication and the possibility of an undiagnosed mental condition, could have played into her son’s decision.
She has also joined SOLOS, Survivors Of Loved Ones to Suicide, a Facebook group for those who have lost someone to suicide.
“It’s not a group you want to join,” Coxwell said. “The group got so big they had to separate it to under 20 years old and over 20 years old. I was shocked to find victims as young as 9.”
For those in need now, the group stressed the importance of reaching out to a peer-appropriate group. If the person is still in school, a guidance counselor can be a good choice. Ssenior citizens can reach out to Flagler Senior Services. Any agency working with job training has access to services.
“Readers who are passionate about the topic and want to participate in an action committee can reach out to Colleen or me," Baird said.
The next committee meeting is March 20, and while the location has not been finalized, Baird believes it will be at Florida Hospital Flagler.
“This is a disease like any other,” Coxwell said. “Cancer doesn’t discriminate and neither does this.”
