Success STORIES

I was going through a crisis. I called at 2 in the morning, and the man who I talked to was an angel.

MAY 4TH, 2023 8:00 AM - 9:30 AM

HILTON GARDEN INN, FARGO

At FirstLink, the Spring season means it’s time for the Youth Film Festival and Annual Breakfast. This will be our second year of the Youth Film Festival, called Silence Speaks Aloud. We are excited to showcase the stories and talent of our area’s young people once again.

The Annual Breakfast will feature a national speaker, Dennis Gillan. Dennis is a national thought leader on the topic of suicide prevention and mental health advocacy. He travels internationally speaking, raising awareness, and reducing the stigma surrounding mental health.

Dennis has been deeply touched by suicide after the loss of both of his brothers to suicide, eleven years apart. After years of sitting on the sidelines, he jumped into helping those in need by working on the suicide prevention hotline when he lived in Chicago. After moving to South Carolina, Dennis got involved with several non-profits that take on mental health issues, allowing him to lobby lawmakers and raise awareness by sharing his story. Dennis gave a TEDx talk about loneliness that has received over 25,000 views! Dennis also co-wrote a children’s book about dealing with sadness and showing children how kindness can save a life.

Dennis is the executive director of a non-profit called the Half a Sorrow Foundation. The name of the foundation comes from an old Swedish proverb that states a shared joy is a double joy, a shared sorrow is half a sorrow. Half a Sorrow Foundation’s mission is to improve mental health by promoting real conversations.

Dennis’ talk promotes real conversations and his style and delivery is like nothing else out there. He combines his losses with real world solutions and even sprinkles in humor from time to time to disarm the audience and let the message land. That message is life is worth living!

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April 13th, 2023 7:00 p.m.

The Annual FirstLink Breakfast will also include an opportunity to view the winning submissions from our inaugural FirstLink Film Festival + Competition, “Silence Speaks Aloud”! Be among the first to see these incredible films created by our community’s young artists by attending the festival on April 13th.

More information and tickets can be found at myfirstlink.org/filmfestival or by scanning the QR code.