The Suicide Prevention Alliance of Chautauqua County will be launching a volunteer-based postvention program designed to provide immediate emotional support to families and individuals grieving the loss of a loved one to suicide. The Sudden Loss Care Team (SLCT) — made possible through grant funding from the Suicide Prevention Center of New York (SPCNY) and fully supported by the Chautauqua County Department of Mental Hygiene, Coroner and Sheriff’s offices — will officially begin operations in January.
A stabilizing presence in times of crisis, the SLCT offers in-person or phone-based support in the early stages of loss. Volunteers are trained in trauma-informed care and suicide-specific grief and will only respond with the full consent of the family. This is not a crisis intervention or therapy service; it is peer-to-peer emotional support from individuals who understand the pain of sudden loss.
Suicide Prevention Alliance Director Carri Raynor says, “The moments and days following a suicide can be overwhelming, traumatic, and deeply isolating. The Sudden Loss Care Team will ensure that survivors have access to compassionate, peer-informed support when they need it most.”…