YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – In recognition of Suicide Prevention Month, the Mahoning County Mental Health and Recovery Board will host a suicide prevention event Wednesday.
The event, Change the Narrative, will take place at 2 p.m. at the reflection garden and gazebo between Buildings 8 and 9 at the Mahoning County Campus of Care, 1960 East County Line Road, Mineral Ridge.
The event will feature speakers from the Mahoning County Mental Health and Recovery Board, along with keynote speaker Laura Haas, Survivors of Suicide Support Group facilitator at Jewish Family and Community Services. During the event, flowers will be placed to represent the number of suicide deaths this year.
“Suicide is something we need to talk about, especially when it comes to prevention,” said Duane Piccirilli, executive director of the board. “Over the past several years, the suicide rate in Mahoning County has continued to increase. This event is to help people learn how to talk about suicide and also let people who have experienced a suicide loss know that they are not alone.”
The event will take place on World Suicide Prevention Day, a day of global awareness and advocacy. The event aims to change the public outlook on suicide by promoting empathy and open conversations and showing that seeking help is a strength and not a weakness.
So far this year, data show the suicide death rate in Mahoning County is trending down. At the end of July, the number of suicide deaths was 22, compared with 33 deaths during the same time period in 2024.
“One of the biggest issues when it comes to suicide is not being able to talk about it,” said Lee DeVita, program director of the Mahoning County Mental Health and Recovery Board. “I think that we’ve done a tremendous job over the past year making sure that we talk about suicide and normalize conversations, but we still have a long way to go.”
Wednesday’s event is free, and members of the community are invited to attend. Survivors of suicide loss are also encouraged to attend.