CMHA, HSPC unveil new Garden of Hope for suicide prevention

In honour of World Suicide Prevention Day, the Halton Suicide Prevention Coalition (HSPC) and the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) Halton are coming together to launch another Garden of Hope.

The launch is set for 11 a.m. on Thursday at the Halton Hills Public Library Branch in Acton.

This year marks their fifth Garden of Hope, which consists of rocks painted with positive messages and images that are placed in a different location in the community.

As of Thursday, there are rock gardens at the Oakville Public Library Glen Abbey Branch, the CMHA in Oakville, the Milton Public Library – Beaty Branch and the Halton Hills Public Library and Cultural Centre in Georgetown.

The gardens also feature signage that recognizes World Suicide Prevention Day and provides a link for those seeking support for themselves or a loved one.

Statistics Canada reports that about 12 lives are lost to suicide every day, with about 4,700 deaths reported annually.

“We ensure that there’s real people available by phone, by text and able to come to people’s homes if they’re struggling, feeling that they’re overwhelmed and they don’t know what to do next,” said Rashaad Vahed, CEO of CMHA.

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“Really between several options, we make sure we have something available for people of all ages and we’re really focusing on providing excellent services for people from the ages of 20 to 64 just because we know this range is where people are struggling, particularly men and youth.”

A report by HSPC found that every year in Halton, 46 lives are lost to suicide, 420 people are hospitalized due to suicide attempts and one suicide-related call is made to police each day.

“We wanted to find more about what was happening in our own Halton community in terms of suicide. What were some of the priority populations, what were some of the risk factors folks were seeing as well as what were some of the gaps that might need to be addressed for people to get the support that they need,” HSPC Chair Melanie McGregor said on why the organization conducted the study.

“We had a whole bunch of different service providers interviewed as well as individuals who had been impacted by suicide, that really gave us some key information about where to focus our work.”

The report also states that men between the ages of 20 and 64 face the highest rate of death by suicide. However, women are four times more likely to commit self-harm.

The mental health of seniors is also often overlooked as the region reports an increase in concurrent mental health and substance use issues in youth.

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