An honest, heartfelt story has the power to change hearts and minds. This September, Lost&Found is sharing 30 of them—an empowering, impactful story for each day of National Suicide Prevention Month.
The first featured story of the 30 Days 30 Stories Project is from Joel Kaskinen. “My goal is to normalize the conversation around mental health and to be a man who is strong enough to share my story with others, knowing that it is painful, emotional and scary.”
The digital storytelling campaign, titled “This Is What Resilience Looks Like,” will tell the stories of 30 people who have faced and overcome adversity resulting from mental health challenges, including suicide ideation, risks, attempts, and loss.
As South Dakota and the surrounding region face continually rising suicide rates and new mental health risks from the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve asked individuals to share their stories of resilience to lend hope, opportunities for conversation, and resources to South Dakota communities.
As an organization focused on providing comprehensive suicide prevention resources for young adults 15-34 in South Dakota and the surrounding region, Lost&Found has two main goals for this campaign:
- Increase awareness of mental health challenges all around us, as this can reduce the stigma of mental illness and seeking help.
- Promote the resources that can help people through even the darkest of times. We especially want people to learn about and know how to access the statewide suicide prevention resources that young adults and families have found relevant to their experiences, identities, and communities.
A new story will be posted to 30stories.resilienttoday.org each day. We encourage sharing these stories on social platforms—you never know who might need to hear a story of resilience on a given day. Hashtags for this story series are #30Days30Stories and #ThisIsWhatResilienceLooksLike.
The campaign is being conducted in partnership with the South Dakota Humanities Council and Storyteller Co. of Sioux Falls.
[button link=”https://30stories.resilienttoday.org/” type=”big” color=”teal” newwindow=”yes”] Go to 30stories.resilienttoday.org[/button]