PSV: Walk With Us -- Alive Together: Uniting to Prevent Suicide

Black and brown students are often the only one in a class in private school or one of a few in a predominantly white institution, which can be isolating. To that point, the experience can be very inconsistent, grade to grade, school to school, and perpetuated generation after generation. Isolation can lead to a range of mental health challenges.   The harsh reality is more than 20% of teens consider suicide and suicide deaths are increasing fastest among people of color, younger people, and those who live in rural areas with many groups seeing increases of 30% or more from 2011 to 2021.  In addition to providing regular racial socialization which is an antidote to isolation, PSV hopes to increase mental health awareness, reducing stigmas about suicide and encouraging hope through action.  Please consider

1. joining the Private School Village Team and walking with us on October 1 and
2. creating a fundraising page within our team and supporting Didi Hirsch's ongoing efforts to raise awareness, reduce stigma, and provide crucial support to those in need.

By walking 2,160 steps, we'll be remembering the approximately 2,160 lives lost each day worldwide to suicide, paying tribute to survivors, and shining a light on this important issue.

About Didi Hirsch: Established in 1958, Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services' Suicide Prevention Center leads the nation with world-renowned crisis care and innovation, including our 24/7 multilingual Crisis Lines with chat and text support, our 911 diversion partnership with LAPD, suicide-specialized therapy and support groups, global training and education, and field-defining crisis residential treatment centers.

Over the last 15 years, Didi Hirsch has helped over 1 million individuals in crisis. Each day, Didi Hirsch’s crisis counselors provide support to over 600 callers, chatters and texters, and 97% of crises were resolved by the end of contact without needing further emergency intervention.

Last year, Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services acquired Teen Line, bringing together two leading organizations to more holistically support our most vulnerable demographic at a time when mental health challenges among our youth are reaching crisis levels. For over 40 years, Teen Line has provided support, resources, and hope to young people as a peer-to-peer hotline where teens can receive support from other teens. The teen volunteers that answer the hotline are highly trained and supervised by adult mental health professionals.

In July 2022, “988” was launched as the new three-digit number for mental health and suicide crises nationwide. Didi Hirsch is the lead crisis center agency for the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline in California. California answers more calls, chats and text than any other state, and Didi Hirsch fields the largest percentage of those contacts (37%). Didi Hirsch is also one of our crisis centers in the US to answer calls in Spanish and one of five centers to answer Spanish chats and texts.

Alive Together: Uniting to Prevent Suicide 

October 1, 2023 

8:00 AM

Site Opens at 7:45 am for Check-In

Exposition Park - South Lawn

A Community Walk Benefiting Didi Hirsch’s Suicide Prevention Center