Faith Leaders Join Lt. Governor Cox to Open Weekend of Prayer
for Suicide Prevention
Diverse group of representatives from the faith community call on Utahns to participate in the preservation of life
WHAT:
Faith leaders, advocates and citizens of many denominations will unite in their common values of faith, hope and life at an event that will mark the beginning of the National Weekend of Prayer for Suicide Prevention, Sept. 7-9. Lt. Governor Spencer J. Cox will also present a letter from the governor to share Utah’s support.
WHO:
Lt. Governor Cox
The Governor’s Suicide Prevention Task Force
The Faith-based Leaders on Suicide Prevention Advisory Committee
WHERE:
Utah State Capitol, Fountain Quad
WHEN:
Friday, Sept. 7, 2018
11:40 a.m. - Noon*
Interview opportunities will be available immediately following remarks.
*Please note that the event will begin at precisely 11:40 due to scheduling.
FACTS ABOUT SUICIDE IN UTAH
Every year in Utah, an average of 4,000 individuals attempt suicide and 500 individuals die by suicide
A Utahn dies by suicide every 16 hours
Utah has the highest prevalence of suicidal thoughts among adults in the country according to a recent study by the Centers for Disease Control
Utah’s suicide rate is consistently higher than the national average
Suicide is the 8th leading cause of death for Utahns overall, and the second leading cause of death for youth ages 10 to 17
Utah ranks 5th in the nation for suicides for youth 10 to 17, and 44 youth ages 10 to 17 died by suicide last year
SUICIDE PREVENTION RESOURCES
Crisis Lines
The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-TALK
Utah County Crisis Line: 801-226-4433
Wasatch Mental Health Crisis Line: 801-373-7393
National Crisis Line: 1-800-784-2433
Trevor Project Hotline for LGBTQ teens: 1-866-488-7386
Online Resources
Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention - Sponsors of National Weekend of Prayer: http://actionallianceforsuicideprevention.org/national-day-prayer-faith-hope-life
Utah Suicide Prevention Coalition: utahsuicideprevention.org
Utah Chapter - American Foundation for Suicide Prevention: afsp.org/chapter/afsp-utah/
NAMI Utah: namiut.org
Free Online Assessment: healthymindsutah.org
SUGGESTED SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS
A diverse group of faith leaders joined @SpencerJCox to kick-off a Weekend of Prayer for Suicide Prevention #suicideprevention #PrayFHL
UT faith leaders are joining in prayer over the weekend to promote #suicideprevention #PrayFHL
Faith leaders and @SpencerJCox ask Utahns to break the silence around suicide and reach out to those who are struggling #PrayFHL #Bethe1
Lt. Governor Spencer Cox joined a diverse group of faith leaders to urge Utahns to participate in a Weekend of Prayer for Suicide Prevention. If you know someone struggling with thoughts of suicide, there is help. Act now: healthymindsutah.org #suicideprevention #PrayFHL
Utah faith leaders from diverse denominations unite in prayer for faith, hope, and life to support a Weekend of Prayer for Suicide Prevention Sept. 7-9. #suicide prevention #PrayFHL https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMctsuR4Qeg
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Missyou
Exclusively Premieres
"YourBody" Music Video
via The Noise
Watch HERE
DEBUT EP OUT THIS FALL
New York, NY - September 5, 2018 - Alt-pop/rock band, Missyou, is exclusively premiering the music video for "YourBody" today on The Noise! Give it a watch here: https://bit.ly/2NRQLQn.
"YourBody," released across all major streaming services this past Friday, is the third single and title track off of the band's forthcoming debut EP, due out this fall. It follows the release of singles "Child 44" and "Know It All."
The four-piece's vision is to create music they can stand behind with an emphasis on storytelling, moving listeners through time. They believe every picture and sound they create is part of a larger story, and above all, in freedom of expression. This EP brings Missyou's vision to life through visceral melodies and heavy hitting lyrics.
YourBody is set to release October 2018. Leading up to the EP, the band will be rolling out additional tracks along with music videos directed by Beyhan. For more information, please visit https://www.missyoumusic.com/
###
Missyou is Blaise Beyhan (vocalist), Omer Wald (guitar), Vince Quinones (drums), and Pete Valentini (bass).
For more information, and to keep up with Missyou:
https://www.instagram.com/missyou_music/
https://twitter.com/missyou_music
https://www.facebook.com/missyoumusic/
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HEALING IN NORTH LAWNDALE
By Robert C. Koehler
1013 Words
“This isn’t rocket science,” Jackie Ingram said, humorously downplaying her involvement in the Restorative Justice Community Court, a pilot project of the Cook County Circuit Court, which has brought a new, healing-focused system of justice to her community this past year.
My thought in that moment was: She’s right. Saving kids and reclaiming a troubled, broken community may be more complex than rocket science.
And more crucial.
“This is basic,” she went on. “Give them hope that they have a future.”
Jackie, who lives in the Chicago neighborhood of North Lawndale, is one of the community members involved in the experimental court, which addresses some of the worst failings of the country’s criminal justice system.
She and her friend Patricia Winners, with whom I talked the other day, are co-circle keepers for the court. They work with the young arrestees — 18- to 26-year-old community residents who have been charged with nonviolent felonies or misdemeanors (mostly drug-related), and who choose to participate in the Restorative Justice process — who are given the chance to heal the harm they have caused, avoid jail and have their cases dismissed from the system. They are also given the chance to find their lives.
The North Lawndale court, one of the first of its kind in the country, attempts to eliminate assembly-line “justice”: a system of prosecution and punishment that assumes no responsibility for the effects of what it does. This includes branding young people — primarily from troubled, poverty-stricken neighborhoods like North Lawndale — as lifelong criminals . . . ex-felons, i.e., bad people . . . once they are snagged by the system, usually for a minor first-time offense.
The system’s harm also includes hemorrhaging enormous sums of money for prison and punishment (it costs more to house people at Cook County Jail than it would to put them up in luxury hotels on the city’s Gold Coast), in the process tearing families apart and shattering communities. And it doesn’t keep us safe.
“It’d be really hard to have a higher recidivism rate than we have in Cook County,” Elena Quintana, executive director of the Adler Institute on Public Safety and Social Justice, told me several years ago, following the release of a study — the Juvenile Justice Needs Assessment Study, which documented serious flaws in the current justice system. The study’s primary recommendation was that young people should be kept in their communities.
“We have a moral mandate to keep kids in the community,” Quintana said. “The gestalt of (the current) system is not about reclaiming you. It’s about corralling you because you’re seen as unfit. And when you’re bounced back, you’ll be watched and rearrested.”
The North Lawndale court, presided over by Judge Colleen Sheehan, opened last September after several years of planning. The court exists in partnership with the community it serves. At its core is the concept of Restorative Justice, which is based on the healing process of the peace circle. Such circles can be used for almost any purpose, but one of their primary functions is to facilitate conflict resolution. People in conflict sit in safety together and, with the guidance of a circle keeper, talk — and listen — to one another, ultimately agreeing on a resolution. The process is voluntary . . .
Wait, voluntary? How can a hierarchical system like criminal justice function on a voluntary basis? The paradox is dealt with by allowing the defendant the choice of going through the regular judicial process or this one.
If he chooses the Restorative Justice Community Court, he winds up sitting in a circle run by trained community volunteers such as Jackie and Patricia. Other circle participants include a mentor for the defendant (sometimes a parent) as well as a volunteer who serves as a surrogate for the community, that is, someone representing the harm the defendant’s criminal action may have caused.
The participants — including the defendant — ultimately agree on a course of reparation the defendant will take. This process takes several circles to accomplish. A Cook County state’s attorney reviews and OKs the agreement; everyone signs it. When it’s completed to the satisfaction of the state’s attorney, the case is dismissed. There’s no “criminal record” to haunt the young person for the rest of his life.
As Jackie and Patricia explained, possible reparations include talking to kids in schools, writing letters to people harmed, doing work in the community gardens — and maybe getting that high school diploma, opening a bank account, getting a decent job. The woundedness and the need for healing goes in both directions.
“I’ll keep moving mountains to help kids,” Jackie said.
This is a court system that values all participants, including the defendant! “They’ve been given so much negativity” in their lives, she said. “This is a way to give them something positive.”
Indeed, court participants are is in the process of planning a “graduation ceremony” for those who successfully complete the process — in other words, celebrating their journey through the system. This is the opposite of traditional criminal justice, which wants only to leave a lasting scar on those who get entangled with it, and could care less about its effect on struggling communities.
But the Restorative Justice Community Court is still just a pilot program. It doesn’t have its own building and is only slowly getting to be known, and trusted, in North Lawndale itself, let alone in the sprawling, problem-plagued city beyond this neighborhood.
But there was a moment, as we sat talking at a café in North Lawndale, that encapsulated for me the hope and possibility of this experiment — of the criminal justice system partnering with the community, of an infusion of love, caring and respect for everyone entering this system.
At one point a young mom walks past carrying a wailing one-year-old. Jackie turns, catches the baby’s eye, begins talking to her in a nurturing voice and suddenly the baby calms herself and looks with wonder at the stranger. She starts to cry again but stops as Jackie tickles her foot and continues her soothing words. The baby’s face opens into a smile.
Case dismissed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~end~~~~~~~~~~
Robert Koehler, syndicated by PeaceVoice, is a Chicago award-winning journalist and editor. His book, Courage Grows Strong at the Wound is available. Contact him at koehlercw@gmail.com or visit his website at commonwonders.com.
