SpeakUp ReachOut celebrates 15 years of bringing hope to the hopeless in Eagle County

The county’s suicide prevention group started in 2009 with little more than a goal: to provide hope to the hopeless. Now SpeakUp ReachOut is an organization that offers that hope to people of all ages.

SpeakUp ReachOut celebrated its 15^th anniversary Tuesday with the Eagle County Board of Commissioners with an explanation of the group’s origin and its current work.

Avon Police Chief Greg Daly has been with the group since its first days, following the death by suicide of someone who’d come from the same county in Ireland.

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In those early days, with the encouragement of town and county officials, the group started with good intentions. A $2,500 grant from Vail Valley Cares helped the volunteer group build a website. Those first volunteers held monthly meetings, with people from local governments and businesses occasionally joined by “people walking in off the street,” Daly said.

Over the years, more funding became available, thanks particularly to a marijuana tax approved by voters in 2017 that provided funding for mental health efforts. That and other funding has allowed SpeakUp ReachOut over the years to expand to five full-time employees.

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“The support of the community has been fantastic,” Daly said.

Daly acknowledged that people are still dying by suicide in the county. But, he said, the “untold story” is those who have found hope over the past 15 years.

In the group’s presentation to the commissioners, SpeakUp ReachOut Director Erin Ivie detailed the unpleasant statistics of the group’s work.

Over the years since 2019, between 12 and 15 people per year have died by suicide in Eagle County. Most are “working age, middle-class men,” Ivie said.

Virtually all of those people are county residents.

But, Ivie said, one of the biggest changes over the years is that helping people share their stories, helping people understand they aren’t alone, “is what can save lives.”

Those listening sessions can be in either brief or longer training sessions, and reached more than 3,000 adults in 2023. The sessions aimed at students reach between 2,500 and 3,000 students every school year.

It’s virtually impossible to tell how successful these programs are, of course. But every once in a while, there’s an obvious win.

“We’re seeing some positive trends,” program and events director Laura Alvarez said. “We’re hopeful that our programming has had an impact.”  

There are multiple resources, including group sessions and one-on-one peer support. Those in crisis can find help by calling 988, the nationwide suicide and crisis hotline. Callers to that number will be connected locally to Your Hope Center, 970-306-4673, which is staffed 24 hours a day.

Commissioner Kathy Chandler-Henry asked if other resort communities have similar programs in place.

“Most resort communities have a piece of the puzzle but not all,” Ivie said. “A lot of (them) are looking to us … A lot are seeing a lot of the same problems we’re seeing.”