'The value of instilling hope': Columbus faith leaders trained in suicide prevention

Ameena Kemavor stood at the front of the classroom, encouraging a group of about 30 local faith leaders to get comfortable “speaking from your heart and instilling hope.”

Some might say that’s what faith leaders regularly do from the pulpit, bimah or minbar, but her advice in this case was meant more for use in times of crisis.

Kemavor, vice president of advocacy and engagement at the Alcohol, Drug and Mental Health Board of Franklin County (ADAMH), was leading an evidence-based suicide prevention training at the end of September for faith leaders called "Question, Persuade, Refer," also known as QPR.

'People took to him':Once a Baptist, new rabbi has unique perspective as he takes helm of Bexley's Agudas Achim

The training, part of the nonprofit's series called "Bridging Our Temples," was requested by local faith leaders and prompted in part by rising rates of suicide locally, said D Malone, ADAMH's director of faith-based and community engagement.

In September, the Franklin County Coroner's office announced that suicides in the county rose nearly 10% in 2021 from the previous year. The Ohio Department of Health reports that there were 168 deaths from suicide in 2021. Incomplete data from this year shows there have been 102 deaths from suicide so far.

"We are not doing enough as a community," Erika Clark Jones, CEO of ADAMH, told faith leaders at the training. "There's a need for more training and community connectors. You often connect with people when they're the most vulnerable. ... Our hope with today is that the training will be an additional tool."

'A renewed sense of purpose':CAIR-Ohio continues work after betrayal of former director

Faith communities are a natural place for people trained in suicide prevention, Kemavor said, as many of the activities central to faith are focused on preserving life.

"There's a consensus that faith communities can do great work in building, amongst communities of faith, hope and instilling hope," she told The Dispatch. “The goal is the role each one of us plays in impacting the life of another person. … You don’t have to be perfect at this. This is not counseling or treatment. All you have to do is care and at some point instill genuine hope to the heart and mind of another person.”

Rabbi Shea Kaltmann, of the Lori Schottenstein Chabad Center in New Albany, was at the recent training and said clergy can have important roles to play because of their part in creating community.

“The opposite of addiction is not sobriety, but it is connection, attachment, loyalty, friendship,” he said, of what Judaism teaches. “We are wired to be with other people and not to be isolated.”

Part of the ADAMH event that was particularly helpful to him in making him more comfortable asking questions was when faith leaders role-played different situations in small groups.

'An eye-opening, tremendous experience':Columbus-based Wexner Foundation trains generations of Jewish community leaders

“We acted out a situation of if someone was speaking to me and it sounds like they’re going through a tough time. ... That’s what we practiced, that’s what we learned about and it was very empowering,” Kaltmann said. “This will help me moving forward in feeling more confident.”

Mohammed Dirieh works with the Somali and Muslim communities locally and also went to the ADAMH training, even though he said he does not believe suicide is a common problem among those communities locally.

Dirieh is vice president of the New American Resource Center, a mental health agency and the board chair for Abubakar Asiddiq Islamic Center on the West Side. He said the training was helpful because he’s not sure if dying by suicide will become more common among third-generation Somali American people.

Reports:Discrimination against Jewish and Muslim people hit record highs in 2021

“We don’t know what is going to happen,” he said. “We have to make sure the community stays focused. … Mental health issues are there within our community. There’s a lot of issues.”

Within Muslim and Somali cultures, mental health is very taboo and stigmatized, he said. People won’t ask for help or admit they have an issue. The resource center works hard to educate people, including through partnerships with local mosques, that there is help out there and it’s OK to need it.

“You have to educate them,” he said. “You have to tell them mental health is just like diabetes. It’s something ... treatable.”

'Man of the people':Slain Columbus imam's absence especially painful during Ramadan

The training also allowed Dirieh to meet many different people from different backgrounds and connect with other area leaders. He aims to spread hope within his community.

"I believe still there’s a lot of good things coming on the way. You don’t have to give up hope," he said.

dking@dispatch.com

@DanaeKing