St. Charles awards $70K in grants for suicide prevention
St. Charles Health System has awarded Your Life Matters suicide prevention grants to six nonprofit organizations in Central Oregon whose programming focuses on building sustainable systems and providing support to community members who have served our country.
The six organizations include:
· Central Oregon Veterans Ranch , which received $10,000 for its program, You Belong Here: Suicide Prevention for Veterans through Therapeutic Peer Connection and Camaraderie. The ranch will recruit 50 veterans per month to visit the ranch, as well as launch a trauma retreat program.
· Council on Aging of Central Oregon , which received $5,000 for congregate dining. The overall focus of congregate dining is to provide nutritious meals, socialization and other supportive services for individuals 60 years of age or older.
· Deschutes County , which received $28,560 for suicide prevention. The county will be developing a website to centralize resources for members of the public and professionals alike to find effective, evidence-based suicide prevention and mental wellness promotion trainings, workshops and associated resources.
· Family Resource Center of Central Oregon , which received $5,000 for preventing youth suicide by building connected, resilient families through a parenting summit. The summit will be the first in a series of activities and parenting education programs that focus on building protective factors in families with children ages 0-18.
· The Wellness Ranch , which received $18,000 for Holistic Healing with Horses. Through Equine Assisted Psychotherapy (EAP) and alternative, integrative healing modalities, the organization strives to help foster resiliency and treat the physiological and emotional effects of trauma.
· Rimrock Trails , which received $5,000 for the development of suicide prevention strategies, including building resiliency programs.
Suicide is the 10th-leading cause of death in the United States and the eighth-leading cause of death in Oregon, according to the Centers for Disease Control. To help combat this preventable public health tragedy, St. Charles’ sole community benefit focus for the 2017-2019 funding cycle is suicide prevention.
Suicide prevention was identified as a priority based on the 2017-2019 Community Health Needs Assessment, which brought together population health data, input from community members, community survey results and analysis of available community resources to address health needs.
About St. Charles Health System
St. Charles Health System, Inc., headquartered in Bend, Ore., owns and operates St. Charles Bend, Madras, Prineville and Redmond. It also owns family care clinics in Bend, La Pine, Madras, Prineville, Redmond and Sisters. St. Charles is a private, not-for-profit Oregon corporation and is the largest employer in Central Oregon with more than 4,200 caregivers. In addition, there are more than 350 active medical staff members and nearly 200 visiting medical staff members who partner with the health system to provide a wide range of care and service to our communities.
