Volunteering with AFSP: Finding and Supporting Healing in Our Community

Volunteer . . . one definition reads “a person who freely offers to take part in an enterprise or undertake a task.”

As I consider that definition, the word that stands out for me is “freely”. I dare say that the vast numbers of those who volunteer with ASFP did not necessarily do so “freely” . . . many of us are delivered to AFSP, born from pain. Many of us came to AFSP out of need . . . a need to make sense about a loved one’s suicide; a need to find some meaning to a life cut short; a need to find someone who desperately understands the unique pain of losing a love one to suicide; and a need to feel supported during a times of utter loneliness. AFSP is that place . . . it’s a place where no matter what event, program or gathering you attend, you find comfort and compassion in another’s eyes who know the deep angst and anguish associated with suicide loss. AFSP is a place where others understand and support your need to grieve at all stages, whether your loss was weeks, months, years or even decades earlier. AFSP is a place where you are asked “What is your loved one’s name . . . tell me about him/her/them.” AFSP is a place where loved ones are remembered . . . where you are encouraged to extend your loved ones’ essence in the world, as you journey to make meaning of a life that was so precious to you.

For all of those reasons, I was drawn to AFSP . . . both professionally and personally. In the wake of many suicide deaths in my life (i.e. a fellow high school senior, my brother-in-law, my cousin as well as multiple clients), AFSP serves as a place of reminder and community . . . reminding me that mental health issues are health issues, and reminding me that although lives are lost, HEALING HAPPENS in community.

As a mental health therapist and survivor of suicide loss, I have been honored to serve on the Indiana State AFSP Board for nearly a decade, volunteering in a myriad of ways:

• Presenter at support groups for SOS (survivors of suicide loss) as well as at the Indianapolis International Survivors of Suicide Loss Day
• Trainer for AFSP educational programs such as Talk Saves Lives (TSL), SafeTALK, More Than Sad, It’s Real for Teens, etc.
• Host at various tabling/marketing events as well as at Out of the Darkness campus/community walks
• Providing support to survivors of suicide loss as a Healing Conversations companion as well in the Hope and Healing tent at the Indianapolis Out of the Darkness Walks

I remain in awe of the courage it takes to reach out for help, and I have bore witness to the healing and transformational power that occurs within the AFSP family. One of my most significant moments was several years ago at the AFSP Indianapolis Out of the Walk as I was serving in the Hope and Healing tent. I asked a woman the name of her loved one and asked her to tell me about him. And then I asked how long ago she had lost her loved one . . . she said 8 days!!! I caught my breath . . . just 8 days ago her world was turned upside down, and yet there she was in a sea of thousands of people, just needing to be held, loved and reminded that she was not alone!

That is the power of healing which happens in AFSP . . . it is both humbling to watch and an honor to serve!