An honest, heartfelt story has the power to change hearts and minds. This September, Lost&Found is sharing 30 of them – an empowering, impactful story for each day of National Suicide Prevention Month.
The digital storytelling campaign, titled “30 Days, 30 Stories: Let’s #DoMore to Prevent Suicide,” will tell the stories of 30 people who have faced and overcome adversity resulting from mental health challenges, including suicide ideation, risks, attempts, and loss.
As South Dakota and the surrounding region face continually rising suicide rates, we’ve asked individuals to share their stories of resilience to lend hope, opportunities for conversation, and resources to South Dakota communities.
As an organization focused on providing comprehensive suicide prevention and postvention resources for young adults 10-34 in South Dakota and the surrounding region, Lost&Found has three main goals for this campaign:
- Increase awareness of mental health challenges all around us, as this can reduce the stigma of mental illness and seeking help.
- Empower people to share their stories. This includes the people who are featured here, but also those who read and identify with these stories and may find courage to tell their own. Storytelling involves deciding what details matter (and which don’t), and finding meaning in a series of events. This process can be healing in itself.
- Promote the resources that can help people through even the darkest of times. We especially want people to learn about and know how to access the statewide suicide prevention resources that young adults and families have found relevant to their experiences, identities, and communities.
A new story will be posted to this website each day in September. We encourage sharing these stories on social platforms – you never know who might need to hear a story of resilience on a given day. The hashtag for this story series is #30Days30Stories.
The campaign is being conducted in partnership with the South Dakota Humanities Council and 4Front Studios of Sioux Falls.
