You see before you an endless sea of empty chairs. They represent the 1100 college students that, according to the COC Health and Wellness Center, commit suicide nationally each school year.
For over 11 years, the Wellness Center has done this event in the Honor Grove to shine a light on the issue of suicide prevention.
“It’s important to bring this event to our college so that our college students know that we are here to help and we provide resources to them,” said Priscilla Benites, a Mental Health Supervisor at the COC Health and Wellness Center.
“We also invite community health providers to come and provide resources to our students,” said Benites.
The Health and Wellness Center provides a 24-hour hotline for students seeking counseling and offering up to six free sessions. Additionally, it hosts the active mind support group, which helps inform people more about mental health and what you can do to help.
“If the person is here on campus and needs help, they may be unsure who to speak with,” said Feranado Martinez, a licensed psychiatric social worker who advised students at the event.
“I know that there are school counselors on site that they can speak with, clinicians that can assess further…in terms of what level of support that student is in need,” said Martinez.
If you’re in a crisis or need help, you can contact the COC After Hours Crisis line at 661-362-3259 and press 9. You can also call the Suicide Hotline at (988 Lifeline). Or you can use the Crisis Text Line by Texting ‘HELLO’ to 741-741.
