North Texas schools come together for Hope Squad conference; focus on reducing youth suicides
GARLAND (CBSNewsTexas.com) — The annual Hope Squad conference was held in Garland Thursday in partnership with the Grant Halliburton Foundation, Jordan Elizabeth Harris Foundation and the Grace Loncar Foundation.
Sally Conway of the Grace Loncar Foundation says the conference "brings together community, support, and raises awareness for the cause and the program."
Hope Squads are groups within schools that focus on reducing youth suicides. Members are nominated by their classmates as peers they can trust and are trained by advisors.
Seventy Hope Squads from 29 North Texas schools came together to listen to musical guests, keynote speakers, and to participate in suicide prevention training.
"This is not just staying inside their campuses," says Lindsey Encinias of the Grant Halliburton Foundation. "This is teaching them how to be genuine and kind and good listeners, and all those things that we really want to carry out through our lives."
Students had the opportunity to learn about self-care through yoga classes and participated in breakout groups with students from other schools to talk about how to break the stigma of mental health.
Matt Vereecke of the Jordan Elizabeth Harris Foundation says early intervention is key to solving mental health issues. "Starting off early allows that intervention to take place in a much more cohesive way, and also is a lot cheaper than waiting for those crisis moments, which can occur later in life."
The most recent Texas YRBS survey shows one in eight Texas teens contemplated suicide in the last year. Organizers hope conferences like this can help decrease those numbers.