On April 28, 2020 Kim Hess, President and Founder of Cassidy Joined For Hope Inc, spoke to the membership of the Magnolia Rotary Club (via Zoom) about her organization and why she founded it. Pictured above is Kim Hess.
Kim told the group that her organization was founded after she lost her daughter, Cassidy to suicide in December of 2015. Kim shares Cassidy's story in schools, churches and community events as part of her mission to spread teen suicide awareness and prevention. After everyone viewed our club's latest PSA about suicide prevention (#SHARE2CARE), Kim told everyone that her organization also partner's with Reflective Life Ministries who produced the #SHARE2CARE video and she has been actively working with church pastors and school counselors to come up with creative ways to allow students to view the videos and discuss suicide prevention. She strongly believes the videos are a great way to start a discussion about suicide prevention. Kim also stated that she is working to get other Rotary Clubs to support additional PSAs on the subject and to that end has started discussions with the Montgomery Rotary Club.
Kim stressed that these are very stressful times and not just for adults but many teenagers. Kim also indicated that since May is National Mental Health Observances Month, she has been working to create an online Facebook page that will not only provide information about suicide prevention but will also provide a portal for both parents and friends to ask questions and get those questions answered by qualified mental health professionals. The idea is to make it as simple as possible so anyone can get the answers they so desperately need and possibly save someone's life.
Statistically, suicide is the second leading cause of death for ages 10-24. To that end, Kim has already worked with schools in her area to create school clubs such as the "Cavs Joined For Hope" in the Woodlands and she would like to do the same for Magnolia area schools but does not have a contact. That is when our club's president, Janice Thigpen pointed out that Kelly McDonald, who was also in the meeting, is on the MISD School Board. Kelly immediately offered to be Kim's contact at MISD and Kim agreed to reach out to her after the meeting. Kim also indicated that both the existing Interact Clubs at MISD and potentially new "Joined for Hope" clubs could help spread the word about suicide prevention.
For more information on Cassidy Joined For Hope, go to: https://www.cassidyjoinedforhope.com/
A photo from the meeting can be seen below:
