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

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 preven-

Maxay Kugula Talinayaan Dhakhaatiirta Dhinaca

Cudurrada Maskaxda

Waxaan wareysi gaar ah ugu tagney xaruntiisa caafimaadka ee United Urgent

Care ee woqooyiga magaalada Columbus Dr. Mohamed Hashi, waxaana ka wareysaney cudurrada faafa iyo cudurrada dhimirka oo waayahan ku soo badanaya bulshadeena ku nool Columbus, Ohio dhibaato ba’an ku haya.

Wuxuu Yiri” Waxaad ogtihiin labadii sano ee la soo dhaafey sida cudurka Covid-19 ugu faafey wadanka oo dhan dileyna in ka badan hal milyan oo qof. Alxamdulillah inkastoo uu weli jiro, hadana ma badna oo waxaa loo baahan yahay in weli la taxadaro oo meelaha la isugu yimaado af jeebka la xirto sida tion training at the end of September for faith leaders called "Question, Persuade, Refer," also known as QPR.

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The training, part of the nonprofit's

Ameena

Kemavor Vice President of Advocacy and Engagement Alcohol, Drug and Mental Health Board of Franklin County

(ADAMH)

SEE

Maxay Kugula Talinayaan Dhakhaatiirta Dhinaca Cudurrada Maskaxda

aroosyada iyo xafladaha dadka badan isugu imaanayaan, sidoo kale mar walba faraha la dhaqo mar walba aad taaabato meelo kala duwan oo aadan taaban indhaha, sanka iyo afka intaad ka nadiifineyso gacmahaaga.”Midda labaad wuxuu Dr. Hashi ka warramay sida cudurka dhimirka ugu soo badanayo bulshadeena wuxuuna yiri” Inkastoo saameyn weyn uu ku leeyahay xirnaantii meel walba la xirey Covid -19kii dad badana lumiyeen shaqadoodii iyo ganacsigoodii oo loo xiriirinayo cudurka dhimirka in uu kor u kacay sannadahaas, hadana waxaa inta badan sababa walaahowga iyo wel welka badan( depression), sidoo kale waxaa laga qaadaa isticmaalka xad dhaafka ah ee maandooriyaasha sida

Cabitaanka aalkolada, daroogooyinka kala duwan, kiniiniyada loo isticmaalo cudurro kala duwan oo si xad dhaaf ah loo qaato, mararka qaarkoodna waa wax la kala dhaxlo oo qoysku isu gudbiyo”. Waxaan kula talinayaa bulshada soomaaliyeed haddii ay dareemaan in wax si ka yihiin dhanka maskaxda sida xaaq badan,hurdo la’aan, murugo badan oohin badan ama qosol aan meel lahayn ama mid ka mid ah qoyskooda in aysan ka xishoon oo ay aadan hay’adaha caafimaadka ku shaqada leh, sababta oo ah maskaxda waa qeyb ka mid ah jirka haddii ay xanuusato waxaa baaba’ya dhammaan jirkii oo dhan oo meesha hagta oo go’aamada dhan ka soo baxaan. Waa la daweyn karaa sida loo daweeyo Cudurrada jirka kale ku dhaca. Walaalayaal waxaan mar kale idin kula talinayaa in hay’addan New American Resource oo wada wacyi galin iyo talo ka bixin halka ugu habboon ee lagu daweyn karo cudurrada dhimirka, ha noqota quraan lagugu daweeyo ama sida ugu sahlan ee loola xiriiro dhaqtarrada ka shaqeeya maskaxda iyo daweyntooda la soo xiriir. Waa dadkaagii uma baahnid turjumaan waxayna kugu hagayaan meesha kugu habboon ee daweynta. ■

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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': CAIROhio 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.

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“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.

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“We don’t know what is going to happen,” he said. “We must 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.”

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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.