Hope Café aims to provide safe haven for people affected by suicide
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A Brandon suicide prevention group will host its Hope Café next week with the aim of creating a safe space where people impacted by suicide can connect and honour their loved ones.
To recognize International Day for People Impacted by Suicide Loss, Brandon’s Suicide Prevention Implementation Network (SPIN) is set to host Hope Café next Wednesday at Brandon University.
The event will run from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. and will include a variety of activities for guests to remember their loved ones who have died by suicide.
“The peer support and understanding through that connection of having lost someone also to suicide is really important for people that are grieving and honouring the memories of their loved ones,” Brenda Lacerte, SPIN’s board chair, said on Monday.
Lacerte said the group will watch excerpts of a play called “Every Brilliant Thing” by Duncan Macmillan and Jonny Donahoe, which shares the story of a young man trying to convince his mother that there are a million reasons to live rather than take her own life.
“That one man’s journey through all of that is really a piece that will resonate with people that have had that similar experience,” Lacerte said.
After the excerpts, Lacerte said there will be an opportunity for participants to make a personalized candle holder to take home so they can light a candle in remembrance of their loved one when it feels right for them.
Guests will also have the opportunity to meet the facilitators for SPIN’s Suicide Bereavement Support Group, along with other clinicians. She said there will be conversation starters, and anyone who wants to share their experience will be supported.
“If they do feel safe and they would like to contribute … that will be a safe place to do that as well too. It’s about creating that safe space to be able to share and talk and support one another,” Lacerte said.
“When people think about a café, you think about that sort of cozy nook where you’re sharing a hot beverage and some conversation with a friend in a safe space,” she said. “I think a Hope Café is like maybe an old friend.”
Ashley Cornect, SPIN’s administrator, outreach and promotions worker, said suicide grief is “significantly different” from any other kind of grief. She said many people internalize the experience of someone dying by suicide and may feel shame or blame during their healing journey.
“Having people around you who have been through the same experience to kind of share what helps you move through … that is a really invaluable perspective that you need in one of the darkest times of your life,” Cornect said.
The event will be held in BU’s Ceremony Room in the Health Studies Building. All are welcome, and no registration is needed.
If you or anyone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide or in crisis, call 9-8-8.
» sanderson@brandonsun.com