Voices For Suicide Prevention

The looming deadline for Ohio's budget, which Governor Mike DeWine must sign by June 30th at midnight, creates an urgent backdrop for critical conversations about mental health funding. As pandemic-era federal dollars disappear from community pipelines, state lawmakers face increasingly difficult decisions about which programs to fund and which to scale back.

State Representative Jodi Salvo, a Republican, and State Se...

Executive Director Tony Coder describes OSPF's continual evolution to save lives by saying 2025 is a year to innovate.   Tony joins this episode to look at the current state of mental health and suicide prevention in Ohio and beyond, plus details the initiatives that are growing and innovating to meet the needs in every corner of our state.  Tony, Rachel, and Scott also tick through every campaign at OSPF with a high-level vie...

There are statistics and there is culture.  And sometimes, when the two mix, the outcome, to be very blunt, can be deadly.   Black children 5-12 years old have been dying by suicide at double the rate of their white counterparts.   Myriad factors contribute to that, including schools, poverty, hunger, crime, and access to healthcare.  A recent survey of Black people points to nearly two-thirds of them saying a mental health conditi...

You've heard people say, 'Now that guy has lived a life!'  It's an axiom that absolutely describes Dino Tripodis.  You may know him as a former morning DJ for two decades in the Columbus radio market.   But along the way, he's also been a private investigator, a touring comedian, an author, a screenwriter, a movie producer, and now an ambassador for us at OSPF!   As Dino puts it, guys like him born in Gary,...

When you bring together a Marine and construction safety executive with a youth pastor, two-time cancer survivor, and fellow construction leader, you get a dynamic conversation filled with passion and purpose.  Johel Woodliff is a Safety Director at Walsh Construction and Paul Lawson is a Construction Executive and Mental Health Advocate who join Scott and Rachel for this month's episode on the suicide crisis in the constructi...

Clinicians, mental health specialists and non-profits around Ohio know Denise Meine Graham and her passion, humanity, grace and yes, trauma, related to suicide.   She lost her son, Drey, to suicide more than 10 years ago.   She later attended a conference about supportive services and then started providing that support herself.  She founded LOSS Community Services in 2014 and since then, more than 5000 loss survivors were provided...

When was the last time you clicked on a story knowing full well it was pure clickbait but you wanted a quick smile during your day and that story did its job!  Hey, we all do it.  From a changing mainstream media landscape to algorithmic calculations for your social media feeds, companies know two things: our time is valuable and our attention spans are short.  However,  when it comes to reporting on something as tragic and often a...

Many people see a young, powerful and supremely fluid athlete on a field or court and think, 'What it must be like to have the world in the palm of your hand?'   But the truth is, mental health concerns and suicide in collegiate student-athletes have increased over the past ten years.   There are immense pressures on these young people from the rigors of practice, class work and of course, performance on game day.  Not to...

Tia Marcel Moretti is Chief Advisor and Deputy Director of The Office of Community & Family Resiliency within the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services.  It's a long title but you could likely sum up her life's work and philosophy this way - 'let's serve people and get the work done!'    She's reached the highest levels of state government as an appointee of Governor Mike DeWine b...

Just about every city, town and county in Ohio is celebrating June and Pride Month.  Columbus hosts one of the largest Pride celebrations in the entire country!   At the Ohio Suicide Prevention Foundation, we're committed to helping everyone find their true voice and the resources they need for mental health and suicide prevention.   We enthusiastically join the celebration of Pride Month and also realize with any movement, th...

According to NAMI, 50% of all lifetime mental illness begins by the age of 14.  75% by the age of 24.   This tells us many things including the vast importance of early diagnosis and the continued push to break stigmas around mental health and suicide.   The more than 70 County Suicide Prevention Coalitions statewide do exactly that every single day:  break stigmas, push for more and better mental health services and create safe sp...

Data doesn't lie.  Agriculture is Ohio's biggest industry.  $124 BILLION-plus in economic output every year.  But there's another number on which we want to focus too; according to the National Rural Health Association, farmers are 3.5 times more likely to die by suicide than the general population.  In Ohio, from a 2022 survey of farmers here, 1 in 10 had an at-risk score on a depression screening tool which indicat...

March is Women's History Month and for a long time in history, women have heard things like this when it comes to pregnancy, parenthood and postpartum depression:  'Isn't being pregnant just the best?'    'It's just the baby blues, it'll go away on its own.'    'Postpartum depression will likely lead to bad parenting.'    Fact: PPD is a mental health condition, and no mother is weak...

Just about every time Jordyn Peaks speaks out about her suicide attempt, she breaks stigmas, which is why we're so grateful she shared her story with us and with you for our February episode.    She's heard this in one form or another many times, 'You're on TV, you're smart, beautiful and so driven, how could you have a suicide scare?'    Truth is, anyone can.   Jordyn talks openly about her journey:  ...

The Ohio Suicide Prevention Foundation is so proud to kick off another year of 'Voices for Suicide Prevention' to break stigmas, break barriers and save lives.  We're doing it in grand fashion too with new co-host, Rachel Tilson, OSPF's Director of Development.  Rachel has a personal and powerful story to tell, and you'll hear it in this episode.   Our guest this month is the Director of Recovery Ohio, Aime...

Legendary news anchor Ron Burgundy, Parks and Rec's Ron Swanson and Man Therapy's Dr. Rich Mahogany.   What's that?   Dr. Mahogany not quite ringing a bell?   Well, it's time you met him and in this episode you will!   What do these manly men have in common besides awesome mustaches?    They're all characters meant to make us both laugh and look in the mirror.    Dr. Mahogany is actually the main character ...

Have you ever worn a cowboy hat or boots?   Ever ordered barbeque at a restaurant or hickory smoked some ribs 'low and slow' on your own?  Cowboy hats didn't originate in Texas and barbeque didn't come from the South.   All of these things and so many more originated from Latin, Spanish and Hispanic cultures in other countries.   We celebrate that in today's episode with a powerful and poignant leader who&a...

September is Suicide Prevention Month, a time to reflect on our efforts across the state, spread awareness, and end stigma surrounding suicide. Suicide can affect anyone – no matter their age, race, gender, or sexual orientation. And that’s important to remember, especially when you may encounter someone who is in crisis. In today’s episode, you'll hear the very real stories of survivors and their messages of hope and guidance...

Christine Vineis builds big things. She's done it her whole career and now she's taking on cyber addiction with her grassroots movement, Families Against Social Media Addiction. As she simply and powerfully says, 'it's not a fair fight'; from algorithms that keep us all engaged to the U.S. Surgeon General with his recent warning that there isn't enough data to even say if social media is safe for young...