600 Walk to Raise Funds for Suicide Prevention

Over 500 people gathered Oct. 18 for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention’s “Out of the Darkness” community walk in Downtown Columbia. AFSP holds hundreds of community walks nationwide to raise money for research and education programs to prevent suicide and save lives.

Speakers at the Columbia walk included Nicole DeChirico, Director of Crisis Intervention Services for Columbia-based Grassroots, as well as survivors, friends and family members of those who have lost their lives to suicide. Grassroots is Howard County’s 24-hour crisis intervention center and homeless shelter. Its crisis counselors handled almost 24,000 calls to the Grassroots hotline last year.

The Columbia “Out of the Darkness” walk was organized by Ellicott City resident Sara Tagget, a mental health advocate and survivor of her daughter, Kattrina’s, suicide, and Sue Holko, survivor of her son, Jeff’s suicide.

For information, call 410-531-6006, or visit www.grassrootscrisis.org.

Participants in the “Out of the Darkness” community walk listened to speakers on the Columbia Lakefront plaza before they walk to raise funds for suicide prevention. Photo by Dylan Singleton