suicide prevention

Preventing Suicides in Tompkins County

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To mark National Suicide Prevention Month in September, The Sophie Fund is publishing a booklet highlighting the considerable efforts taken to save lives in Tompkins County over the past decade.

Healthcare leaders speaking at a suicide prevention town hall, 2023

Leaders from healthcare, behavioral health, government agencies, and concerned nonprofits have come together to upgrade suicide prevention practices, train practitioners, and educate the public about suicide risk factors and warning signs. It is a sustained, community-wide mission.

The booklet will be distributed at “Rooted in Action: Innovative Approaches for Rural Suicide Prevention,” the annual New York State Suicide Prevention Conference being held this year in Ithaca on September 29-30.

If you or someone you know feels the need to speak with a mental health professional, you can call or text the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 9-8-8, or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741-741.

Among the steps taken in Tompkins County:

—In the 2017 Watershed Declaration, healthcare leaders pledged to “intensify efforts toward saving lives and bringing hope to those struggling with suicide thoughts or affected by suicide loss.”

—Stakeholders formed the Tompkins County Suicide Prevention Coalition in 2018, adopting a strategic plan guided by a vision “for a community where no lives are lost to suicide” and using data, science, and collaborations to implement effective strategies.

Formation of the Tompkins County Suicide Prevention Coalition, 2017

—The Coalition hosted two community town halls, “How Healthcare Helps Prevent Suicides,” and “Youth Mental Health & Wellness.”

—The Coalition launched the “Tompkins County Suicide Care Pathway Initiative” in 2025, bringing together hospitals, campus health centers, behavioral health clinics, and crisis responders to map and improve support and continuity of care across health sectors.

—Community nonprofits created the annual “Mental Health Support and Suicide Prevention for Schools in Tompkins County,” a booklet of information and resources, and distributed more than 200 copies to school personnel.

—The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention Central New York chapter organized annual “Out of the Darkness” walks in the community and on the campus of Cornell University.

“Out of the Darkness” Walk at Cornell University, 2024

—AFSP, NAMI Finger Lakes, Mental Health Association, Suicide Prevention and Crisis Service, and The Sophie Fund provided a robust array of suicide and mental health care trainings and support services including help hotlines.

—The Coalition launched an initiative to promote the Zero Suicide Model in the community’s healthcare systems; and top healthcare leaders formed the Tompkins County Zero Suicide Steering Committee in to implement the model within and across healthcare systems.

Launch of the Tompkins County Zero Suicide Steering Committee, 2022

—Cayuga Health and Tompkins County Whole Health embarked on Zero Suicide implementation plans.

—The Suicide Prevention & Crisis Service expanded its 988 call center staff from five to 42, expanded its coverage area to a total of 17 counties, and added call lines for LGBTQ+ and non-crisis emotional support.

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Scott MacLeod, co-founder of The Sophie Fund, said that his organization was grateful for Tompkins County’s advances in suicide prevention, but added that there was no room for complacency.

“People of all ages, including students on local college campuses, are dying by suicide in Tompkins County,” he said. “Nationwide, suicide remains the second leading cause of death among people aged 10-24.” He noted that the Coalition’s Suicide Care Pathway Initiative in 2025 showed numerous gaps in local suicide care, a need for more training in suicide prevention treatment protocols, and greater fidelity in the use of those protocols.

“We need continuous efforts to educate ourselves about risk factors and warning signs, to encourage people who are struggling to seek help, and to see suicide prevention best practices implemented by all providers. National Suicide Prevention Month is a call to action to step up the mission,” he added.

The Sophie Fund is a nonprofit organization advocating for improved mental health in Tompkins County. It was formed in 2016 in memory of Sophie Hack MacLeod, a Cornell University student who died by suicide that year.

If you or someone you know feels the need to speak with a mental health professional, you can call or text the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 9-8-8, or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741-741.

Tompkins Parents: Free Help for Kids Mental Health Struggles

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When a child is struggling, the people who love them most may not realize how much they are hurting or know what to say. Join youth suicide prevention expert Jonathan B. Singer, PhD, LCSW, for practical guidance on recognizing the signs, starting difficult conversations, and helping a child feel heard and supported.

Wednesday, September 2, 2026

8:00–9:30 p.m. ET

Live on Zoom

For tickets, go to: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/keeping-kids-safe-tickets-1993347617383?aff=oddtdtcreator&keep_tld=true

For FREE admission, use Promo Code: Sophiefund18

In this presentation, attendees will learn how to:

*See the common risk factors and warning signs, even when a child appears to be doing well.

*Say the right words to ask directly about suicide with calm and confidence.

*Support a struggling child in a way that helps them feel heard, believed, and less alone.

This event is intended for parents and caregivers of children in grades K–12, as well as educators and school professionals who support young people.

[The Sophie Fund expresses its gratitude to The Wellness Institute, a division of the Rohr Jewish Learning Institute, for providing free access to this presentation for the Tompkins County community.]

Donate to The Sophie Fund: Our 2026 Appeal

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Every year, to mark Sophie’s birthday on August 23 we launch our annual fundraising appeal. Please consider making a donation today to support The Sophie Fund’s work aiding the mental health of young people in the Ithaca and Tompkins County communities. 100% of donations go directly toward the grants we provide to mental health providers and community organizations for training and programming; and to our modest operating costs.

Thank you for being part of our collective mental health mission!

To Make a Donation:

Click Here for The Sophie Fund Donation Page

Current goals in need of funding include:

—Training in mental health and suicide prevention for Ithaca-area clinicians, social workers, and community members. This includes The Wellness Institute’s annual suicide prevention conference next March; discrete training modules for evidence-based treatment protocols such as Safety Planning and Lethal Means Counseling; and a forum to engage our local primary care practices in suicide prevention. We have now trained more than 250 clinicians in Tompkins County, including the entire counseling center staffs of Cornell University and Ithaca College.

—Production, printing, and distribution costs for mental health guides designed for the local Tompkins County community, including: Mental Health Support and Suicide Prevention for Schools in Tompkins County; A Parent’s Guide to College Student Mental Health; A Student’s Guide to College Mental Health (in production); Bullying Prevention Resources for Schools and Families; Be Safe at College; Mental Health and Crisis Services Tompkins County.

A few highlights of The Sophie Fund’s activities over the past 12 months:

—In March, The Sophie Fund financially sponsored the participation of 56 Tompkins County healthcare professionals in a two-day online suicide prevention training featuring some of the nation’s leading experts.

—The Sophie Fund partnered with the Ithaca Beer Co. during Mental Health Awareness Month in May to highlight the mental health information and treatment resources that are available in Tompkins County.

—In our annual “Cupcake Button” fundraising campaign, we collaborated with five Cornell University student organizations to collect $1,119.00 for the Ithaca Welcomes Refugees (IWR) organization.

—The Sophie Fund co-sponsored the 4th annual Better Together for Mental Health festival in May in Stewart Park. We provided a grant to the Family Reading Partnership to provide free copies of Between You and Me, a children’s picture book celebrating friendship.

—Four students in the Master of Public Health program at Cornell University produced public health communications projects for The Sophie Fund: A Student’s Guide to College Mental Health; Recipes to Make When You Reeaally Don’t Feel Like Cooking; and two social media campaigns, “Winter Wellness Tips” and an English-Chinese posts directing international students to mental health resources.

—As a member of the New York State Suicide Prevention Council we contributed to the development of the New York State Suicide Prevention Plan (to be released in September); and to oversight of a $3.5 million federal SAMHSA grant to advance the Zero Suicide Model in 40 Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics (CCBHCs) throughout New York State.

—The Sophie Fund received the 2025 Friend of Children Award from the New York Association of School Psychologists at NYASP’s annual conference in November.

—The Sophie Fund hosted the 10th Annual Ithaca Cupcake Baking Contest, alongside our mental health fair, in the Ithaca Commons in October. We celebrated a decade of Ithaca cupcakes with a photo exhibition depicting highlights of the contest through the years.

For more information on The Sophie Fund’s work, please visit:

http://www.thesophiefund.org

Thank You!

Here’s to Mental Health Awareness Month!

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May is Mental Health Awareness Month, promoting a cause that is dear to Ithaca Beer Co. and The Sophie Fund. The two organizations are partnering this year to highlight the many mental health information and treatment resources that are available in Tompkins County.

Zach McGovern and Valerie Consiglio-Nickerson, Taproom managers at Ithaca Beer

Throughout the month, Ithaca Beer will provide its customers with a resource card listing local providers for psychotherapy and psychiatry, addiction counseling, support groups, peer counseling, and sexual violence support.

The card’s flip side contains 5 Simple Steps, a brief safety plan that can help prevent an immediate mental health challenge from escalating. With the card’s QR code, users can download the resources to their smart phones.

“Mental health is a fundamental aspect of overall health, and is too often ignored, under supported, and stigmatized,” said Jess Mitchell, Ithaca Beer Co. director of operations. “We welcome hundreds of visitors monthly, giving us the platform to reach our community widely. We are committed to doing our part to connect people with the resources they need.”

In addition to the resource cards, Ithaca Beer will be hosting informational mental health presentations by the Finger Lakes chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness and the Suicide Prevention & Crisis Service of Tompkins County.

Ithaca Beer and The Sophie Fund are also running a mental health awareness campaign on social media, pointing to local resources, breaking the stigma around mental health, and encouraging anyone who is struggling to reach out for help.

The organizations, along with Better Together for Mental Health, will host a special Mental Health Awareness Month gathering for local mental health workers honoring their dedication and impact. The event will take place at Ithaca Beer on May 28.

Scott MacLeod, co-founder of The Sophie Fund, expressed gratitude for Ithaca Beer’s effort to promote mental health in the community.

“Stigma remains an obstacle that prevents many people who are struggling from acknowledging they need help or actually reaching out to loved ones or professionals for support,” he said.

“When a high-profile company like Ithaca Beer steps up to actively help normalize talking about mental health, it makes all the difference. Nobody should suffer in silence when help is available.”

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Cornellians Support Suicide Prevention

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For the fourth year in a row, organizers held an “Out of the Darkness” suicide prevention awareness walk on the Cornell University campus April 26.

Some 120 students, faculty, staff, and community members, encouraged by Free Hugs Ithaca, Be Kind Ithaca, and the superhero known as the Cornell Batman, trekked the 2-mile route snaking from Barton Hall around campus and back again on a bright Spring afternoon.

The 2026 Walk begins!

The walkers raised more than $10,000, bringing to $60,000-plus the monies raised in the Cornell Walks for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. AFSP uses the funds for awareness programming as well as to develop evidence-based methods for treating suicidality and preventing suicide deaths.

Walk Chair Cheyanne Scholl, a staff member at Cornell’s College of Veterinary Medicine, noted that Cornellians have been affected by campus suicide deaths this year as well as by government cutbacks for mental health.

“You being here today is showing that there is something to fight for. Every dollar raised today is going back into suicide prevention in the form of research, advocacy, and prevention efforts,” said Scholl.

“Cornell is currently the only Ivy League institution with a multi-year Out of the Darkness Walk,” she added. “That is something to be very proud of!”

Cornell students preparing for the Walk

During the speakers’ program, Nambita Sahai, a Cornell junior studying biology, called on her fellow students to overcome the stigma around mental health.

“No matter how someone seems, they may be fighting battles you can’t see. Cornell is full of brilliant, driven, compassionate people, but it’s easy to feel like you’re the only one struggling,” said Sahai, the current president of Cornell’s student-run Empathy, Assistance & Referral Service (EARS).

“While improving campus mental health feels like a universal goal, many aspects of it are still stigmatized. It’s easier to talk about stress over a test than to admit you can’t get out of bed or take care of yourself. We ask each other how we’re doing, but we don’t always expect honest answers. And it’s still difficult to ask for mental health days or find consistent support from all professors,” she said.

Sahai said that Cornell students can find meaningful support through services like EARS but also just being there for each other.

“There is a lot of evidence that students turn to peers before formal therapy, which means we all have a role in supporting each other. It can be as simple as asking someone to expand on how they feel and actually listening. Sometimes people just want to be heard, to have a space to talk, and to form authentic relationships.”

Members of the Walk team: Crysal Howser, Cheyanne Scholl, Emily Georgia, and Stacy Ayres

Another speaker was Sandra Sorensen, executive director of the Finger Lakes chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, who echoed Sahai’s plea to overcome stigma.

Sorensen related how her husband Michael, although the creative, sharp-minded, outwardly larger than life father of five and doctoral candidate at Cornell, died by suicide in 2021. Inside, she said, Michael dealt with bipolar and major depressive disorder.

“Stigma kept him from seeking help and forced him to continue to perform at his best,” she explained. “Michael didn’t talk about his mental health. We as a family didn’t talk about it either, as we were held to his silence and the stigma that he felt. We can look at the high achieving Michaels of Cornell and within our social circles and say, ‘Not them.’ But, ‘Yes, them.’ We need to talk about it. We need to check in on our friends and family.”

More than 500 AFSP Out of the Darkness Walks are held across the country each year. Besides raising funds, the Walks send a message that “suicide is preventable, and no one is alone,” and help build a community around mental health. They show solidarity and bring hope for suicide attempt survivors or loss survivors.

Among the participants in the 2026 Cornell Walk were 12 fundraising teams, with Alpha Gamma Rho bringing in the most funds, $920. Other top teams included Cornell CARE, Team Hope, Stronger Together, and the Cornell Out of the Darkness Planning Committee. Michell Moyal collected $1,227 in donations, becoming the top individual fundraiser.

For the Honor Beads ceremony

Participants were provided with “honor beads,” necklaces in vibrant colors signifying their connection to the suicide prevention cause—white for the loss of a child, red for the loss of a spouse or partner, gold for the loss of a parent, orange for the loss of a sibling, purple for the loss of a friend or relative, silver for the loss of a first responder or military member, green for personal attempt or struggle, teal for someone who struggles or has attempted suicide, blue for supporting the cause, and rainbow for the LGBTQ+ community.

Why Do You Walk?

Cornellians left messages on the “Why Do You Walk” wall:

Talk about it! PLEASE!

Ask for help

To show up for those who could not for themselves

YOU ARE LOVED!

In memory of Nick Budney

For my best friend Holly

Give healing 1 more try

For myself and my brother. You are not alone!

To remind myself that I am not alone!

For Jack. I miss you!

A light to guide through the darkness—Batman

My Uncle Tim

For the friends I almost lost. There is hope beyond the darkness.

To give someone hope

You deserve to be here

Compassion

This year’s sponsors were: Suicide Prevention and Crisis Services of Tompkins County; NY FarmNet; Halco Home Solutions; Be Kind Ithaca; Free Hugs Ithaca; and Rosie’s Café and Parlor.

Sandra Sorensen and Kathy Taylor

Darrell Harrington and Samantha Shoemaker

Big Red Bear, Cornell Batman & Friends

Empathy Assistance, and Referral Service

Photo credits: Zoe Phemister-Jimenez and Crystal Howser

To connect with AFSP’s campus efforts, email: cornellafsp@gmail.com.

If you or someone you know feels the need to speak with a mental health professional, you can call or text the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 9-8-8, or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741-741.

For AFSP support and/or other resources, please visit www.afsp.org/get-help and www.afsp.org/resources.