by Focus Staff
Middle Tennesseans who have lost someone to suicide are invited to a very special event on Saturday, November 17, designated as International Survivors of Suicide Loss (ISOSL) Day 2018. The free event will be held at Franklin Vineyard Church, 308 Jordan Rd, in Franklin, TN, from 9am-1pm. Attendees can register for ISOSL Day at https://afsp.org/survivor_day/franklin-tennessee-2/.
ISOSL Day activities will include two-panel discussions, “Survivor, Experience, Advocacy,” and “Resolving the Whys of Suicide.” There will be loss-related breakout groups, a Hope and Healing art project, live music, therapy dogs, and a screening of AFSP’s compelling new documentary A Daughter’s Journey.
Hosted by the Tennessee chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP), the event is part of an international day of remembrance and healing for those who have lost loved ones to suicide. In 2017 there were nearly 400 locally organized ISOSL events held throughout the U.S., Canada, and around the world.
Panel Guests
Panel guests for “Survivor, Experience, Advocacy” include Vanessa Stalets-McDaniel, loss and lived experience survivor; Sumer Anelli, lived experience survivor; and AFSP Tennessee State Director Kat Cloud. Guests for the panel on “Resolving the Whys of Suicide” include Stephanie Boshea, loss survivor; and Brenda Williams-Denbo, loss survivor. The moderator for the panels will be Michelle Bauer, AFSP TN Board member and loss survivor.
Partners
AFSP TN is grateful to its ISOSL Day partners: Family & Children’s Service, Hope & Healing art project leader Rachel Murphy Norman, MA, ATR, of Family & Children’s Service, Birgit Cornelius, volunteer with National Crisis Response Canines, and musical segment guests Bruce Gaitsch and Tim Denbo, as well as Franklin Vineyard Church.
Breakfast and lunch will be provided. This is a remembrance event that may not be suitable for children under 13; no child care is provided.
About ISOSL Day
ISOSL Day was founded in 1999 when U.S. Senator Harry Reid, a survivor of his father’s 1972 suicide, introduced and passed a resolution designating the Saturday before American Thanksgiving as “National Survivors of Suicide Day,” a day on which friends and family of those who have died by suicide can join together for healing and support. In recognition of the fact that suicide knows no geographic or national boundaries and because Survivor Day events are organized around the world, AFSP’s program is called “International Survivors of Suicide Loss Day.”
Learn More
To learn more about International Survivors of Suicide Loss Day, visit survivorday.org, call AFSP State Director Kat Cloud at 615-393-4742, or email kcloud@afsp.org.
