By Peggy Brockman, Executive Director, United for a Good Cause Inc. / Hope Squad
Several schools in the Okaloosa County School District celebrated a “Day of HOPE” on Friday, February 12, 2021 to raise awareness of suicide prevention and mental wellness.
The students in the Okaloosa County School District’s HOPE SQUAD program organized events for the “Day of HOPE.” According to Peggy Brockman, Executive Director of United for a Good Cause, Inc., “There are currently ten schools with active HOPE SQUADS including Niceville High School, Crestview High School, Choctawhatchee High School, Meigs Middle School, Destin Middle School, Pryor Middle School, Bruner Middle School, Lewis K-8 School, Davidson Middle School, and Baker K-12 School. Five additional schools in the district are in the process of standing up HOPE SQUAD programs. If funding becomes available, we will start all elementary schools in the fall.”
To recognize HOPE SQUAD students, Mayors from all areas of Okaloosa County presented proclamations designating February 12, 2021, as their city’s “Day of HOPE”. The goal of the day was to help destigmatize mental health issues and start empowering the community to ask for help if they are in an emotional crisis.
In 2019, United for a Good Cause, Inc., a local non-profit focused on youth, approached Superintendent Marcus Chambers about the possibility of bringing the national HOPE SQUAD peer-to-peer suicide prevention program to the school district. HOPE SQUAD is a national organization and is currently in over 1000 schools around the country and growing rapidly. They provide an evidence-based peer-to-peer suicide prevention program.
According to Ms. Brockman, “Our commitment was to raise the money to fund and facilitate the program in thirty-five schools in the Okaloosa County School District. We feel certain the community will come together to support this initiative to help save our children.”
In December 2019, the Okaloosa County School Board voted unanimously to bring HOPE SQUAD to the district. Eglin Federal Credit Union stepped forward to donate the first $50,000 of the nearly $250,000 needed to cover the cost of curriculum and advisor certifications over the next few years for the 35 schools. That major donation along with other corporate donors like Cox Communications, Emerald Coast Harley Davidson, Niceville Strong, Gulf Power, the Okaloosa Cares Act Grant, SAME Organization, and more, made it possible for the program to continue in 2020 despite the challenges of the pandemic.
Currently in our country, suicide is the leading cause of death for youth ages 10-17. In Okaloosa County between 2008 and 2018, there were a total of 65 reported deaths by suicide ages 10-24. Seventeen of those occurred between the ages 10-18. From ages 19-21 another 17 occurred and from 22-24 another 31 (Florida Health Charts). We can see by those numbers, there is a significant increase in deaths by suicide from age 19-24. Statewide we are seeing a significant increase in both Hispanic and African American suicide rates.
With early intervention and shifting the culture in schools to one of kindness and connectedness, we believe we can change the trajectory. Starting as early as fourth grade helping students see that it is ok to ask for help when they are struggling, our hope is that the numbers over age eighteen will also decrease. The Hope Squad program has proven to show significant decreases in numbers of suicides and attempts in schools. Student reporting of struggling peers goes up and early intervention means getting those students help before an attempt takes place.
If you would like more information on the Hope Squad program or would like to help sponsor a school, visit www.unitedforagoodcause.org or contact Peggy Brockman at [email protected] or by phone at 850-259-8356.