NAMI events offer chance to grieve, hope for future

National Alliance on Mental Illness Hancock County will hold two events Saturday with the goal of giving the community a chance to grieve, but also offering hope for the future. The Jenelle Hohman Color Me Happy Walk and 5K will begin at 10 a.m., with registration starting at 9. Suicide Prevention and Remembrance Day activities will take place from noon to 2 p.m. Both events are being held at Riverside Park. Bailey Kerr, director of peer engagement for the organization, said group yoga will be offered before the Color Me Happy Walk. There will also be a kids' zone with an obstacle course and face painting. After the walk, which will last about an hour, there will be an awards ceremony with awards given to, for example, the most colorful participant. Then the organization will "switch gears" to Suicide Prevention and Remembrance Day. Kerr said there will be pizza and live music from ReVerb, along with a small art show with pieces representing recovery, or a loss, related to suicide. A workshop will give people the chance to create their own art, and there will be another yoga session. A ceremony at 1:30 p.m. will include an award for the Crisis Intervention Team officer of the year, and Kerr will give a brief keynote speech. Then the group will release 100 butterflies, which Kerr said is meant as "a symbol of hope." The number 100 represents wanting a 100% success rate at eliminating suicide. In lieu of candles, which were used when the event was a nighttime vigil, there will be a rose petal drop, into the Blanchard River, Kerr said. Family Resource Center will have support staff available at the event. There will also be a resource fair. While NAMI Hancock County has held both the suicide vigil and the Color Me Happy Walk before, the events have not ever been held together, Kerr noted. She said she hopes it combines a message of hope alongside awareness of the seriousness of the issue. She wants to give people "an opportunity to grieve and feel," but also to move forward with action steps to address the issue in the future. Also new this year is that the suicide prevention day is a "big collaborative effort," Kerr said. In addition to NAMI Hancock County, it is being sponsored by Family Resource Center, Focus and the Hancock County Veterans Service Office (which will be working to raise awareness of veteran suicide). Kerr said, moving forward, she'd love to also incorporate other organizations like LGBTQ+ Spectrum of Findlay. And, she noted, the fastest-growing group of suicide deaths is among African American men. "We're working to get there, to start representing more people," she said.