Berry College has received a suicide prevention grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
The purpose of this grant is to increase the community’s ability to recognize and respond to students at risk of self-harm and to create lasting infrastructure to reduce symptoms associated with mental illness and self-harm in students through the Vikings Campus Suicide Prevention project.
The suicide prevention project will bolster and expand current mental health infrastructure, outreach, education, and training. The goals of the project are to increase the capacity of the community to recognize and respond to students at risk of self-harm and to create a comprehensive infrastructure to reduce symptoms associated with mental illness and self-harm.
“The SAMHSA campus suicide prevention grant will allow the college to increase capacity in implementing, sustaining, and improving effective identification, intervention, and prevention services for all students,” Project Director and Assistant Dean of Student Wellness Michael McElveen said.
The Berry College Counseling Center will continue to provide direct counseling services, train peer educators and facilitate referrals to the counseling center’s Virtual Care Group to ensure demand does not outpace capacity.
The grant is $299,876 over a three-year timespan, beginning with an award of $102,000 for the first year of use.
For more information about counseling services at Berry, visit www.berry.edu/student-life/life-on-campus/counseling-center/.
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Written by Public Relations Student Supervisor Faythe Choate
Office of Public Relations
