In Dec 2016, the Greater Worcester community foundation awarded a community grant for suicide prevention in Worcester’s Bhutanese community. Several community interaction sessions related to suicide prevention were held by ARISE.
Interaction sessions were held to assess the understanding and perception of the Bhutanese community regarding suicide and its prevention. During these sessions, participants, including both youth and the elderly population were informed about the suicide rate among resettled Bhutanese people in America and potential ways to avoid such incidents. 42 community members successfully completed the gatekeepers training conducted in their their language. All participants were interested in learning to identify symptoms of suicidal ideation and willing to educate other community members.
ARISE Inc 