Dear Friends,

I hope this message finds you well and thriving.

September is National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, a time to share resources and promote suicide prevention awareness. Charlotte Ross, a pioneer in the suicide prevention movement, launched Peninsula Suicide Prevention, Inc. (known today as StarVista’s Crisis Intervention & Suicide Prevention Center) in 1966 to address rising adolescent suicide rates in the county. 55 years later, we continue to grow our services and be a leader in crisis intervention and suicide prevention with ongoing crisis support and education throughout San Mateo County. This includes our 24/7 Crisis Hotline 650-579-0350, Teen Crisis Text Line 650-747-6463 and Chat, Health Ambassador Program-Youth, and our program website www.sanmateocrisis.org. We are also delighted to launch our new Youth Stabilization, Opportunity, and Support, or Youth S.O.S., which is a mobile crisis response for youth 0-25, including current and former foster youth residing in San Mateo County.

We are grateful to partner with San Mateo County Office of Diversity and Equity and other organizations to bring awareness to suicide prevention. Suicide prevention community events can be found on our resource blog here and San Mateo County’s website here. I also invite you to learn about suicide and suicide prevention from our Crisis Center staff in our Q&A blog post here.

Our role in providing essential mental health services would not be possible without our incredible funders, donors, supporters, and you! Your generosity helps up transform crisis into life skills and provide intervention solutions when needed. To support our essential work in the community, visit www.star-vista.org/donate.

Lastly, I invite you to join me at StarVista’s once-a-year fundraising event, Changing Lives, on October 7 at 12pm. This year’s virtual event will celebrate our 55 years of service in San Mateo County and celebrate the incredible achievements of our clients and programs, and to help even more people on their journeys to vibrant mental health and more hopeful lives. Register here.

Sincerely,

Sara Larios Mitchell, Ph.D., MACP
CEO