Community

Steps Against Suicide Awareness Walk Set For Friday In Bellaire

BELLAIRE - The Bellaire High School Sources of Strength fourth annual Steps Against Suicide Awareness Walk will take place Friday.

From 12:30-1:30 p.m. students and staff will meet at Bellaire Park to engage in positive activities that promote positivity and belonging.

The walk will begin with a prayer circle led by the students. Then the walk will begin at 1:30 p.m. and will be led by students holding a memorial banner that community members will have the opportunity to sign in remembrance of loved ones.

The walk will begin and end at the park's gazebo. It is a 1.2-mile loop around downtown Bellaire. The walk will go down Guernsey Street and come back up on Belmont Street.

Sources of Strength focuses on a wellness wheel that has strengths such as healthy activities, spirituality, positive mentors and generosity. The students work on those objectives listed on the wellness wheel throughout the school year. They do that by offering programming and campaigns, such as organizing the race.

Bellaire High Spanish teacher and teacher liaison to student services Rebecca Difabrizio said that, unlike previous years, the walk won't have a race.

"We’re doing an awareness walk, it’s not going to be a competition like we’ve done in the past," she said.

Difabrizio added that the participants are encouraged to wear red at the walk. She said that the group decided on red because it represents mental health on the strength wheel.

The program's strength wheel has eight colors, each representing a different core area of strength and support that individuals can turn to during difficult times.

Red represents mental health, orange represents family support, yellow represents positive friends, green represents mentors, blue represents healthy activities, gray represents generosity, purple represents spirituality, and teal represents physical health.

"The student-led group will have a lot of programming happening this year that is centered around strengthening mental health," Difabrizio said.

She believes that the event has continued to serve an important purpose since its creation four years ago.

"More and more we find that a lot of our youth are directly impacted by various mental health issues. They feel a lot of stress and anxiety," Difabrizio said. "Sadly, as we’ve seen in our communities, suicide is something that we have to protect our youth from."

She said that school staff tries hard to keep lines of communication open and make sure that the students know what resources and support is available.

"We want them to know that support is out there to help them when they’re going through difficult times and feel lonely or isolated," Difabrizio said.

The national Suicide and Crisis Lifeline is 988 and is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.