Coming Together for a Community Effort

According to the CDC, 48,824 people died by suicide in the United States in 2024. Another 4.3 million adults seriously thought about suicide, 4.6 million planned a suicide attempt, and 2.2 million attempted suicide. It’s easy to look at those numbers and feel overwhelmed, because it IS overwhelming—but that’s exactly why we can’t do this work alone.

Suicide prevention is a community effort, and this month UCA WAVES got to practice that by participating in the UNC Suicide Prevention Institute’s Path to Prevention Summit. There, we joined 75 participants for a day of learning, connection, and meaningful conversations about suicide prevention.

Our Founding Executive Director, Lily Chen, and Grants Manager, Reid Bowman, served on a panel at the event, blending their expertise and lived experience to speak about what suicide prevention actually looks like in the community. To say we’re grateful to UNC is an understatement!

It was an amazing day of learning from fellow advocates, sharing experiences, and strengthening the connections that make suicide prevention a shared responsibility. Thank you to everyone who continues to show up for our communities. Together, we can build a more connected, compassionate, and supportive future.