Project SPEAK is a federally funded grant designed to increase staff and students’ knowledge and understanding of attitudes regarding suicide, help develop skills to identify warning signs of at-risk individuals, be able to articulate concerns for someone’s safety, and know how to make referrals for assistance.
Project SPEAK is partnered with mental health awareness campaigns including Suicide Prevention Week’s activities and Mental Health First Aid Certification.
Miguel Rivera, the current Director of Counseling and Accessibility Services at DSC, shared a story about a man named Kevin Hines as an example of raising awareness for mental health.
Hines intentionally jumped from the Golden Gate Bridge and survived. He is one of only two percent of people who have jumped and survived. Hines uses his experience as a way to create hope, dispel myths, and motivate people to take charge of their own mental health.
Bethany Session is the Associate Director of Student Development and Coordinator of Project SPEAK. She oversees the mental health initiatives at DSC.
Session has been an advocate for securing mental health resources and has spent the last twenty years committed to reducing suicide and the stigma that goes along with it.
A champion of mental health wellness, Session began her career at DSC in front-line counseling services and was promoted to Director of Counseling and Accessibility Services a short time later. Friday, February 17th was Session’s 20thanniversary.
Session is planning next year’s major mental health conference. The conference is the culmination of year three of the grant. The conference is taking place, for the second time since 2011, on the Daytona Beach campus and will draw mental health professionals from DSC and the community.
Session is writing a play that will run on DSC’s television station during the conference. A panel of experts who will also be there to answer questions from DSC students and facility.
DSC is a grantee of the Garrett Lee Smith Act associated with the Project SPEAK grant. Session and Rivera are currently co-authoring a proposal to ensure DSC receives the Project SPEAK grant until 2027.
“Self-care is important. There is always a way out, never give up,” Session said. “My door is always open. If you need me for one second, one hour, one day, just please come find me.”
Jenn Barth
Contributor