Always: SPN promises to remember and prevent suicide

MARINETTE – Each September, National Suicide Prevention Month is observed to raise awarness, encourage open conversations and bring attention to resources. Suicide Prevention Network of Marinette and Menominee Counties is one organization dedicated to withholding these goals year-round.

Suicide Prevention Network (SPN) is a nonprofit organization that, for the past 38 years, has been committed to bringing suicide awareness to those living in Wisconsin and Michigan. The group is operated by an 11-member board, including vice president Gail Schick, who has been a board member for 18 years and supporting the mission for 21 years.

“I found out about the Suicide Prevention Network 21 years ago when I lost my son (15-year-old Bryant Schick) to suicide. The counselor I was seeing was talking about the Embrace Life walk and gave me a flyer,” Schick explained.

She continued, “I went home and said, ‘I [can’t] do this,’ and then I heard my son whisper in my ear, ‘Mom, if you ask, they will walk.’”

Schick then went on to participate in her first Embrace Life walk with dozens of supporters coming out to walk alongside her as a team.

“I didn’t want to have a team in my son’s name because I knew I wasn’t the only parent who lost a child to suicide. I wasn’t the only one who lost a loved one to suicide. I wanted to come up with a saying and a team for all of us that have lost someone to suicide,” she recounted.

“So, I came up with Team Always — not just a word, but a promise. We will always remember those we lost. We will always do what we can to help each other. We will always be there for each other. We will always remember. We will always do what we can so no one else has to walk in our shoes or live in our nightmare.”
Through SPN and Team Always, Schick has been able to use the Embrace Life walk as one way to spread awareness and connect with others.

Held on Sept. 20, the SPN Embrace Life Family/Community Fun Walk began at the Menominee American Legion before crossing over the Menekaunee Bridge and, later, back over the Interstate Bridge. The event included a memorial reading of names, bucket raffles and more.

This event is made possible through the work of board members Kelsey Schick, Sarah Hilt, Carah Schick, Suzanne Bryzykcy, Jennifer Nowack and Bobbie Dolliver as well as president Shannon Parrette, treasurer Melissa Freeman and secretary Chelsea Renne.

Outside of their annual walk, the group dedicates time to connecting people with pertinent resources, sharing information at events, offering scholarships and conducting QPR training.

The Question, Persuade and Refer (QPR) program is a 1.5-hour training that SPN offers to interested people and businesses. The program teaches people how to ask difficult questions directly, persuade the person to open up and accept help and then refer them to professional services.

Schick explained, “We’re teaching people the myths about suicides and the warning signs of suicide so we can intervene earlier versus later.”

Offering interventions like Embrace Life and QPR are important for everyone, but especially for men living in rural communities.

According to SPN, “Over half of all suicides occur in adult men, ages 25 - 65. The highest suicide rate is among men over 85 years old. There are four male suicides for every female suicide.”

“In our area, our highest rate of suicides have been been in males between the ages of 30 to 70. So often as a community — not just our community, but any community — when it’s males, they don’t get as much attention,” Schick shared.

Schick and the SPN encourage anyone experiencing depression or struggling with suicidal thoughts to set up a personal care plan by identifying reliable people to connect with; replace negative thoughts; schedule productive activities; get outdoors; engage in selfcare and kindness; or call the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988 becuase there is always someone available to help.

“Always is not just a word, but a promise. I sign everything ‘always’ because I am saying I care and I want you around tomorrow. It’s my way of wrapping everyone in the biggest and most encouraging hug you could ever get. Always,” Schick said.

To learn more about services provided by the Suicide Prevention Network of Marinette and Menominee Counties or to get involved, visit https://spn-mmc.org/, call (906) 290-2727 or find the organization on Facebook.