Kevin’s Cause, a Carson-area nonprofit suicide prevention organization in collaboration with Carson City Councilman Mike Gipson, will host “Let’s Talk–Break the Silence Suicide Prevention Symposium,” a panel and audience discussion featuring professionals representing the fields of mental health, suicide prevention, grief counseling, and drug and alcohol counseling.
The symposium will take place from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, July 28, in the Victoria Community Regional Park Community Room, 419 E. 192nd St., in Carson.
“There are over 36,000 people who die from suicide annually in the United States, and approximately 1 million people who attempt suicide,” said organizer Wanda Jackson, who after her son Kevin’s suicide, founded Kevin’s Cause. “Suicide does not discriminate.”
Jackson has become a spokesperson regarding suicide prevention. She says education is the key to saving lives. She shares information to help families that have had loved ones that have attempted or died from suicide.
Buck Buckner from Everybody Radio.com’s The Mr. Buck Live Show, will moderate the discussion that will feature the following:
- * Cynthia L. Madere, a drug and rehab counselor for Kevin’s Cause, who as a teen struggled with thoughts of suicide;
- * Richard Mogil, a survivor of his younger brother Ed’s suicide in 2003, now a volunteer for the Survivors After Suicide program at Didi Hirsch;
- * Dr. Lisa Bolden, Psy.D., a licensed clinical psychologist with over 17 years of experience counseling individuals, couples, families and groups;
- * Veronica Scarpelli, an area director for the Greater Los Angeles Region for American Foundation of Suicide Prevention, whose husband, Nick, died from suicide in 2002;
- * Linda Nausbaum, M.A., M.F.T., a marriage and family therapist who, as a former journalist, won two Emmys for documentaries on social issues;
The event is free and open to the public. RSVP by visiting www.kevinscause.org.
