Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services Announces Annual Walk & Community Event "Alive Together: Uniting to Prevent Suicide"

The Nation's Leading Suicide Prevention Center Taps Kelsie Watts of The Voice and More for A Day of Remembrance of the 2,160 People Lost Globally to Suicide Each Day

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services (Didi Hirsch), home of the nation's premier Suicide Prevention Center and a leading provider of whole-person mental health and crisis care, today announces "Alive Together: Uniting to Prevent Suicide", a walk and community-building event that is raising funds to support the work of Didi Hirsch's Suicide Prevention Center. The Center offers comprehensive, compassionate crisis care for kids, adults and families in an emotional or suicidal crisis. With increasing focus on rebuilding stronger, more equitable, and more connected communities, the event on Sunday, October 23rd at 7:45 AM PDT encourages supporters to walk 2,160 steps (about one mile) at Exposition Park in Los Angeles– mirroring the number of lives lost each day to suicide worldwide.

In 2021, the Didi Hirsch Suicide Prevention Center counseled more than 135,000 callers on the hotline. Since the launch of the new, easy to remember 3-digit number, 988 in July 2022, there has been a substantial increase in the total volume of contacts, including a 32% increase in calls and 176% increase in texts. Didi Hirsch has been instrumental in the 988 rollout. On behalf of the State of California, the Center led 12 crisis centers across the state, both public and private, who together field over 270,000 calls a year to the National Suicide Prevention Hotline. The Suicide Prevention Center provides individual, family and group counseling for people struggling with suicidal thoughts, attempts or losses in person in Los Angeles or Orange Counties and via telehealth across the state of California.

"Didi Hirsch is dedicated to providing suicide prevention solutions for the growing mental health crisis in our country," said Didi Hirsch's Chief Executive Officer Lyn Morris, LMFT. "We are thrilled Alive Together is built on the legacy of our decades-long and beloved Alive and Running event and it has been redesigned to offer more community-building and resource opportunities for our supporters and survivors at a time when so many are struggling with suicidal thoughts or actions."

The event includes inspirational guest speakers and celebrities sharing personal stories, community-building activities, food trucks, memorial quilts and memory trees that honor loved ones lost. This year's Alive Together event will host a number of names that are leading the conversation on mental health including the event's emcee Julianne Grossman. There will also be a fitness warm up activity led by Eric Bigger, fitness instructor and former contestant on ABC's hit show The Bachelorette, with a fireside chat with actress and mental health advocate Sarah Gilman and writer and advocate Dharma Lemon of Get Lit - Words Ignite, a spoken word non profit. The event will conclude with a performance by singer-songwriter Kelsie Watts a former contestant on NBC's hit show The Voice, who lost her brother to suicide.

In addition, Didi Hirsch is working with key organizations, such as the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health (LADMH), American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) as well as community leaders to create teams and encourage their communities to join in-person or virtually to raise awareness, build connection and support Didi Hirsch's Suicide Prevention Center. There will also be information booths and other activities throughout the event.

Register today to help prevent suicide in families and communities around the world. Friends and loved ones are encouraged to donate and participate. Supporters are also able to text-to-give by texting DIDI to 41444.

Founded on principles of health equity and innovation, Didi Hirsch has been providing whole-person mental health and crisis care to children, adults and families since 1942. In addition to the above, its first-in-the-nation Suicide Prevention Center trains students, teachers, mental health professionals, first responders, law enforcement, and others throughout the U.S. to save lives. Didi Hirsch professionals compassionately care for almost 160,000 children and adults annually through outpatient, residential, and crisis services through 11 locations and nearly 100 schools across Los Angeles and Orange Counties. Learn more at DidiHirsch.org.

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SOURCE Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services