Press Release - October 2006

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                           For more information contact:  

                                                                                         YOCASTA JULIAO

                                                                                         (305) 358-1640, Ext. 114

24/7 SUICIDE HELPLINE

ASSISTS THE GLBT COMMUNITY

Miami, FL, October 5, 2005  - The Switchboard of Miami, Inc. announces the launching of the Kevin Cline Suicide Awareness Initiative [KCSAI] to educate and raise the awareness of suicide and mental health services available at the Switchboard and other organizations serving the local gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender [GLBT] community in Miami-Dade County and surrounding communities.  This initiative builds upon the Switchboard of Miami’s 37 years of experience in providing suicide education, prevention and intervention services through their 24/7 HELPLine - (305) 358-HELP (4357).

Switchboard’s Helpline receives approximately 15,000 calls every month.  Nearly 23% of these calls relate to suicide, mental health, substance abuse or other health problems.  The KCSAI will offer help in English, Spanish and Creole and will provide access to experienced counselors, trained in suicide prevention and crisis intervention.

“Bringing the topic of suicide out of the closet will be an important outcome of the initiative,” says Michael Dentato, MSW, Director of Clinical Services at Switchboard of Miami. The National Association of Psychiatrists and the American Journal of Public Health have shown that the rate of suicide among lesbians and gay men is over 30 percent. Similarly, bisexual or transgender individuals have a greater tendency of committing suicide than their heterosexual counterparts.  In Miami, the GLBT suicide rate may be even higher, as the GLBT population is exposed to a lethal and explosive combination of high-risk behaviors including drug use, sexual promiscuity, high HIV infection rates, and other factors such as social rejection and sexual ambiguity, conflict between sexual orientation and religious beliefs, financial hardships, loneliness and depression. 

The agency recently received a $10,000.00 grant from Dade Community Foundation to implement the initiative and to increase public awareness of the impact of suicide in the GLBT community.  “Over the next year, the agency will continue to actively seek funding from corporations and foundations to support and expand the project” says Ed Straub, whose initial donation catalyzed the initiative.  Ed approached Switchboard with the idea of starting the specialized helpline after he lost his close friend, Kevin Cline to suicide.  “The number of my friends whose lives has been touched by suicide shocks me.  People just don’t know how to talk about suicide, much less what the warning signs are” says Ed.

“Public awareness ads will soon run in the GLBT press targeting two keys audiences: Those at Risk and Friends of Those at Risk. The main focus of these ads is to educate the GLBT community of the availability of the KCSAI Helpline and to prevent additional loss of life. As funding permits we will place the ads in all the major South Florida GLBT, including African American and Hispanic media,” says Yocasta Juliao, MPA, Director of Helpline Services at Switchboard of Miami.  As a 501 C 3 organization, the agency is seeking contributions from various sources to help promote and implement this initiative. All contributions will be tax deductible – “a win for all parties”, comments Juliao.