Saint Anthony “Haven for Hope staff deal with people at their worst,” said Vice President of Transformational Services David Hewitt.
A major focus is training and educating staff in detecting and intervening in a crisis for clients and themselves.
“We have suicide prevention training, we have mental health days that our clients and staff can take anytime,” Hewitt explained. “All of our staff go through de-escalation training and crisis intervention training. We know that many of our clients deal with trauma. They come from quite traumatic backgrounds at times and that we want to make sure that we’re not creating a punitive environment and that someone who’s going through a crisis or a breakdown, that we’re able to intervene with care and support rather than punishment.”
The changing economic tide has caused different groups of people and families to seek help, which can sometimes hurt people.
“I think you’re seeing the stress, the multi-generational stress from parents not being able to afford rent from kids, being out of school for years, from instability for families, sleeping in different couches, jumping from hotel to hotel.”
Last week emergency responders were called to campus for an attempted suicide, which usually doesn’t make the news because of its subtle nature. Hewitt said this is a rare occurrence. But there is a big focus on educating everyone about the resources available.
Anyone in need can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, 988, for confidential help.
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