Champions of Change

Champions of Change Blog

  • Suicide Prevention Resource Center Builds National Capacity

    Posted by Jerry Reed on September 1, 2011 at 6:24 PM EDT

    Ed. Note: Champions of Change is a weekly initiative to highlight Americans who are making an impact in their communities and helping our country rise to meet the many challenges of the 21st century.

    SPRC

    We lose over 34,000 people a year to suicide -- that’s more people dying by suicide than by homicide and HIV/AIDS combined. Suicide leaves behind grieving family, friends, coworkers, and others to wonder: “What could we have done differently to help?”

    For more than a decade, we have been working to answer this question and save lives by participating in a national movement to address suicide as a preventable public health problem.

    The suicide rate for American youths—the population on which most attention has been focused—has been declining for over a decade now. Unfortunately, suicide is on the rise for other groups, so we have been working to find solutions. Some populations with increasing or high rates of suicide, suicide attempts, or both, are American Indian/Alaska Natives; lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT) youth; young Latinas; and working aged men and women, including military service members and veterans. Suicide rates for older white males are also disproportionately high, but like those for youths, have been steadily declining for many years.

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  • Making Schools Safer and Creating a More Hopeful Future for LGBT Youth

    Posted by Eliza Byard on September 1, 2011 at 11:02 AM EDT

    Ed. Note: Champions of Change is a weekly initiative to highlight Americans who are making an impact in their communities and helping our country rise to meet the many challenges of the 21st century.

    GLSEN

    In the fall of his freshman year of high school, Georgia high school student Austin Laufersweiler spotted a GLSEN Safe Space Sticker on his guidance counselor’s door. He knew he wasn’t alone and instantly felt safer. Austin went on to be a force for change and progress in his school, and was later honored as GLSEN’s 2009 Student Advocate of the Year.

    At the foundation of GLSEN’s work to make schools safer and more affirming for all students, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity/expression, are the experiences of students like Austin. These students’ strength and commitment shape our efforts to create a world where young people learn to respect all people and value difference for the positive contribution it makes to a more vibrant society.

    But for every student who can connect with a system of support, countless other lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) K-12 students navigate hostile school climates without the support they need. 

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  • Nonprofit Leadership and Making a Difference

    Posted by Joe Stackhouse on September 1, 2011 at 8:00 AM EDT

    Ed. Note: Champions of Change is a weekly initiative to highlight Americans who are making an impact in their communities and helping our country rise to meet the many challenges of the 21st century. Find opportunities in your community at Serve.gov.

    SAVE

    As President of the Board of Directors of the nonprofit organization SAVE (Suicide Awareness Voices of Education), my job is very different than that of my day job.  AT SAVE I am a volunteer, a collaborator and consensus builder.  I need to stay focused on the mission of the organization, not the bottom line as in most businesses.  As a nonprofit organization we are accountable to many regulations and rules, yet we remain steadfast in our goal of staying true to what our values and goals are.  We worry less about the dollars and more about the impact.  These are the things that inspire me to nonprofit leadership.

    Mental illnesses impact millions of Americans every year.  Tragically, some of those living with these illnesses die at their own hand after a long, difficult battle.  At SAVE we believe that it doesn’t have to be this way.  We believe that mental illnesses are treatable and that suicide is preventable.  Raising awareness that help is available, educating people that they too can be part of the solution and being a support system when all else has seemed to fail are the things that we do best to make a difference.  None of these are easy in a field that does not yet have enough solid research to help direct programmatic efforts, is filled with stigma, and too often leaves those who are struggling with few places to turn.

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  • Empowering Military Families and the Civilian Community to Work Together

    Posted by Pamela Stokes Eggleston on August 31, 2011 at 5:22 PM EDT

    Ed. Note: Champions of Change is a weekly initiative to highlight Americans who are making an impact in their communities and helping our country rise to meet the many challenges of the 21st century.

    Blue Star Families

    In 2009, I helped to create Blue Star Families with a group of dedicated military spouses to support, empower and connect military families to each other, to their communities and to decision makers.  As the Army spouse of an OIF combat wounded warrior, I feel a close kinship with this dynamic group of military spouses and families who experience similar issues. All too often, the greater community does not understand our sacrifices and our service to this nation. As such, Blue Star Families’ strategic focus is to bridge the gap between the military and civilian communities.  In doing so, our primary aim is to promote and foster healthy military families through the collaborative sharing of information and quality of life resources.

    To be sure, Blue Star Families has exceeded its own expectations. We have struck a chord, not just with military family members hungry for support and empowerment, but also with elected officials, military leadership and corporate America seeking to hear unfiltered feedback related to “on the ground” issues that are impacting us. As military families, we appreciate the momentous sacrifice of others in our shoes; subsequently, we regularly conduct our Military Family Lifestyle Survey to glean what today’s military families truly need. From its results and our personal familiarity, we set the stage for our pioneering programming platform with novel projects like Operation Honor Cards and our groundbreaking public service announcements (PSAs) to help prevent military family suicides.

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  • Manufacturing Change

    Posted by Ari Matusiak on August 31, 2011 at 12:25 PM EDT

    “People come here and they stay,” Patricia Klavora said about the dedicated workforce at Valtronic, many of whom have been with the company since its inception 25 years ago.  Klavora, now Valtronic’s Marketing Communications Manager, started out as an outside small business consultant.  But after seven years of great experience working with the people of Valtronic, she decided to become one of them herself, joining the company as a full-time employee a little less than a year ago.

    Klavora isn’t the only new member of the Valtronic corps; they have hired 33 employees since October 2010 – a 53-percent increase that now brings its total workforce to 95 people. Cramped for space, Valtronic is planning to double in size by expanding its facility to the lot next door so it can hire more people.

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  • Suicide Prevention at the Community Level

    Posted by John Madigan on August 30, 2011 at 4:45 PM EDT

    Ed. Note: Champions of Change is a weekly initiative to highlight Americans who are making an impact in their communities and helping our country rise to meet the many challenges of the 21st century.

    The Suicide Prevention Action Network (SPAN USA)

    President Obama recognized the work of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and its Suicide Prevention Action Network (SPAN) with a Champions of Change Award last week at the White House. I was honored to be part of a conversation between Administration officials and suicide prevention and education community leaders from around the country. Our conversations clearly showed that behavioral health is an essential part of everyone’s health, prevention efforts work, and treatments for depression can be effective.

    I was proud to be joined at the White House meeting by a SPAN Field Advocate, Nancy Farrell from Massachusetts. Nancy lost her brother Michael to suicide. This past June, Nancy helped organize and hold an important conference in Boston on LGBT Suicide Prevention.

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