SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF TEEN SUICIDE LAUNCHES 2^nd YEAR OF WOODBRIDGE YOUTH COUNCIL IN RECOGNITZION OF SUICIDE PREVENTION MONTH

Local Legislators, Assembly Speaker, Northfield Bank and Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey Lend Support to Essential Program

WOODBRIDGE TOWNSHIP, NJ (SEPTEMBER 13, 2019) – The Society for the Prevention of Teen Suicide (SPTS), with the support of Senator Joe Vitale, Speaker Craig Coughlin, Assemblywoman Yvonne Lopez, Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey and Northfield Bank, officially launched its 2^nd year of the Woodbridge Youth Council.

“We are thankful to our community partners: Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey and Northfield Bank for providing resources which enable our organization to provide this critical programming to the high school students of Woodbridge Township,” said Executive Director, Dawn Doherty. “Our organization is dedicated to increasing awareness and reducing the stigma of suicide through programing like the Youth Council that empowers teens to help build a life of resiliency.”

The Youth Council meets once per month for two hours, September through May, for focused comprehensive workshops that provide awareness and education based on help-seeking behaviors, coping skills, and protective factors through dynamic and integrated activities and engaging guest speakers.  In addition to monthly meetings, the Youth Council members have the opportunity to facilitate event planning, social media campaigns, and PSA awareness announcements.

“Horizon is investing in the health and wellness of our communities and ending the stigma around topics like depression, anxiety and suicide is an essential part of our broader effort to put behavioral and mental health on equal footing with physical health,” said Jonathan Pearson, Director of Corporate Social Responsibility at Horizon BCBSNJ.

“We lose way too many young people to suicide each year in New Jersey. The Society for the Prevention of Teen Suicide is a great organization that provides the necessary resources to those who may be experiencing the hardest times in their lives,” said Senator Vitale, Chairman of the Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee.

To learn more about Woodbridge Township Youth Council, SPTS, and how you can become more involved, please visit www.sptsusa.org.  SPTS offers a variety of resources on its website that can be downloaded and duplicated at no cost for more information on what you or your community can to do help prevent suicide.

If you or someone you know may be suicidal, call 1-800-273-TALK (8255). You are not alone.

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