Suicide coalition still bringing new initiatives to Butler
Even though fewer Butler County residents died by suicide in 2024 than 2023, the work of the Butler County Suicide Coalition isn’t through. The organization is working to lower that number even more.
According to Amy Cirelli, cochairwoman of the Butler County Suicide Coalition, 27 people died by suicide in Butler County in 2024. That number was 35 in 2023, according to data from the Butler County Coroner.
The people lost to suicide are remembered and honored collectively at the coalition’s upcoming suicide remembrance rally, scheduled to take place at 5 p.m. on Sept. 3 at Diamond Park in Butler.
Cirelli said it is always an opportunity to provide people struggling with negative feelings with resources that can help them. The ultimate goal, Cirelli said, is to get the number of Butler County residents who die by suicide to zero.
“Our goal is just to always make sure as many people as possible have the information — crisis line numbers, risk-factors, warning signs,” Cirelli said. “There’s always people who aren’t going to come across that information.”
The coalition is planning other events in September and beyond in an attempt to connect with people and offer resources and community in case they are considering suicide or self-harm. September is National Suicide Prevention Month, so the month has become a time for the coalition to make a push for awareness to people who otherwise might not know where to turn for mental health help.
Visitors to Diamond Park on the day of the remembrance rally will probably notice the fountain decorated with pairs of shoes on all sides. Each pair of shoes represents a life lost to suicide in Butler County the previous year. Cirelli said it is meant to be a physical reminder of the people who could have been standing at the event if not for suicide.
The event also includes an art project, which everyone in attendance gets to make their mark on; emotional support dogs; and speeches from the suicide coalition and people who have personal experience with suicide.
This year, there will be five speakers, who will tackle the topic of suicide from different angles.
One of the speakers is Charles Powell, of Butler, who said he has struggled with suicidal ideation for much of his life. He said he is in a good place mentally now and he wants to share his own experience with other people to demonstrate there is hope, even when living with mental health issues.
“I’ve been committed to this process and things I have discovered and learned through reading, research,” Powell said. “I’m constantly reading books and understanding the mind and psychology. I learned I have post-traumatic stress disorder, which is the result of severe child abuse.”
Powell said it is difficult to cope with mental health symptoms that stem from real-life trauma, but one way he has moved through it is through personal reflection and research into why he and others feel those kinds of feelings. He also will discuss this at the suicide remembrance rally.
“Why is it that I’m trying to destroy myself?” Powell said he found himself asking himself. “I wanted to begin to understand why I have this chronic anxiety.”
In addition to the speakers, there also will be representatives from other mental health resources at the rally, Cirelli said.
The Butler County Suicide Coalition is hosting a game night at Your Parents’ Basement on Sept. 19, which Cirelli said is meant to provide a welcoming environment for people to get to know the coalition’s members and other people with similar feelings.
She said that while this upcoming game night and the other ones planned by the coalition are suicide prevention efforts, they are also just ways to provide people with a social activity to stave off the isolation that can come from mental health struggles.
“We had one in the winter … as a way for people to come out and have something to do,” Cirelli said. “We have prevention materials there, but it’s more like fellowship. Some people maybe don’t have a lot of social supports.”
Powell said that isolation can keep the cycle of depression and PTSD going.
“Isolation becomes a killer, because you don’t think anyone can relate to you and what you’re going through,” Powell said.
Cirelli said the coalition also organized a movie night at the Butler Area Public Library, which will show “Inside Out 2” the evening of Sept. 27. Cirelli said this event is a way to connect with children and speak to them on their level about mental health.
Additionally, Cirelli and other members of the Butler County Suicide Coalition have been certified to lead “CALM Trainings,” which are workplace trainings that help people identify potential signs of self-harm in another person. Cirelli said this training can be done in workplaces, churches, schools and more.
“Really you just need a place for the training to happen,” Cirelli said.
The county suicide coalition has been meeting monthly for years, a schedule Cirelli said the group is trying to make more public this year. She said that even after years of regular meetings and speaking engagements of her own, there are still a lot of people she wants to reach with resources.
“I spoke at a couple Rotary Clubs a few years ago about the suicide coalition and asked people if they’d heard of 988 (the suicide and crisis prevention hotline number). Only a few people raised their hand,” Cirelli said. “Reaching different people is what we’re focusing on.”
The suicide remembrance rally begins at 5 p.m. on Sept. 3 in Diamond Park.
