SPOTLIGHT: Suicide Prevention Service

Local Life Line

Suicide Prevention Service offers a continuum of programs to help save lives and support survivors.

By Caitlin Fillmore

Losing a loved one to suicide is painful enough, but this particular type of loss and grief can be an isolating experience.

The team at Suicide Prevention Service, a program of Family Service Agency of the Central Coast, works to reach loved ones left behind after a loss. The group approaches both suicide prevention and “post-vention” as a shared responsibility.

The organization connects with survivors through its Survivor Outreach Team. Members of this team are people who have also endured suicide loss, providing compassionate support from volunteers who “truly understand their grief,” Program Manager Carly Cuevas says. “We help individuals feel less
alone and more supported during the most vulnerable time in their lives.”

Suicide Prevention Service operates across Monterey County to raise awareness. “Our presence means that people in Monterey County have a local, caring voice who listens without judgment and connects them to hope and safety,” Cuevas says. “Without that, our community would lose a vital safety net that saves lives every day.”

The nonprofit offers a full continuum of support, from one-on-one counseling to public education campaigns with schools and parents on topics like mental health first aid (enabling all of us to support each other’s mental health) and 988, the suicide and crisis lifeline. Through partnerships with
other local agencies like hospitals and law enforcement, Suicide Prevention Service can respond to people in trouble more nimbly.

“Mental health is health, and suicide prevention is a shared responsibility,” Cuevas says. “Every effort ensures that Monterey County residents know that help is available 24/7, confidentially and without judgment.”

For Cuevas, this responsibility can appear in profound, everyday ways. After one “Let’s Talk About It!” pre-
sentation at a local school, a student volunteer stepped up to help their struggling friend.

“[They] remembered what we learned and asked if their friend was OK. [The student] ended up calling 988
and later reported the talk helped their friend feel less alone,” Cuevas says.

Every life saved is a success story: “We’re not just preventing suicide,” she says. “We’re promoting life.”