A public meeting was held in La Ronge last night to commence the Roots of Hope community suicide prevention project.
Roots of Hope is part of the Mental Health Commission of Canada’s national suicide demonstration project initiative.
Cathy Wheaton is the project coordinator for La Ronge. She says the first step is connecting with members of the public and getting them involved.
“My primary responsibility is to help to support the project and to coordinate the activities of the project, along with the community advisory committee, and to help to engage the community, which is a key component of it,” she said.
Wheaton says people are needed to be part of the community advisory committee, and a working group will also be put together to identify priorities and form an action plan, which will be more than just research.
“You know the suicide crisis we went through, this is going to be just a powerful way of responding to it in a proactive way,” she said.
The Saskatchewan Health Authority is hosting the La Ronge project and the province committed funding in the spring budget.
(PHOTO: Meeting at the JRMCC. Photo by David Smith.)