“A Lesson on Living” NSU Welcomes Jordan Burnham

Hosted by the NSU Office of Suicide and Violence Prevention & Sponsored by The Ganley Foundation

: Erin N. Procacci, Ph.D., Licensed Psychologist and coordinator, SAMHSA Campus Suicide Prevention Grant; Jordan Burnham, Suicide Attempt Survivor and Speaker from Active Minds; Scott Poland, Ed.D, CPS associate professor and director of the Suicide and Violence Prevention Office; Grace Carricarte, M.S. Ed., Executive Director of The Ganley Foundation.

Lesson on Living — Erin N. Procacci, Ph.D., Licensed Psychologist and coordinator, SAMHSA Campus Suicide Prevention Grant; Grace Carricarte, M.S. Ed., Executive Director of The Ganley Foundation; Jordan Burnham, Suicide Attempt Survivor and Speaker from Active Minds; Scott Poland, Ed.D, CPS associate professor and director of the Suicide and Violence Prevention Office Deborah Mulligan, MD FAAP FACEP, and director, Institute for Child Health Policy; Laurie Sallarulo, Vice President of Development for Broward 2-1-1

Suicide is a tremendous public health issue. In the United States, a person dies by suicide every 15 minutes. Suicide is the 2^nd leading cause of death for college students and the 3^rd leading cause of death for high school students. Unfortunately, only about 1/3 of individuals who struggle with depression and/or thoughts of suicide receive help. Consequently, it is extremely important to become better educated about the warning signs, the many resources available, and the importance of TAKING ACTION. The only real risk is in doing nothing.

Over 100 people attended this unique event to increase suicide awareness and prevention. The event was hosted by NSU’s Office of Suicide and Violence Prevention and sponsored by a local non-profit, The Ganley Foundation. Jordan Burnham, a suicide attempt survivor and speaker from Active Minds, was the featured presenter at this event. Jordan has had quite a journey which he shared with the audience. As a self‐proclaimed overwhelmed overachiever who continues to struggle with depression, he jumped out of a ninth story window about 3 years ago and barely survived. Now, he works with groups to raise awareness about the issues of suicide and depression. Dr. Erin Procacci from NSU’s Office of Suicide & Violence Prevention and Center for Psychological Studies encouraged attendees to use the resources that are available both on campus (Henderson Student Counseling & the Employee Assistance Program) and in the local community. Grace Carricarte, from The Ganley Foundation and Laurie Sallarulo, from Broward 2-1-1 shared information about community resources.

The event was covered by Nicole Maristany from CBS 4 and can be viewed by visiting:

CBS 4 newscast: http://cbs4.com/video/?id=102267@wfor.dayport.com
CBS 4 online: http://cbs4.com/local/teen.space.Jordan.2.1972591.html

Later that day, Deborah Mulligan, MD FAAP FACEP, and director of the Institute for Child Health Policy, welcomed Scott Poland, Ed.D, CPS associate professor and director of the Suicide and Violence Prevention Office, Jordan Burnham, and Laurie Sallarulo to speak to nurses and physicians at the 3rd Annual Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital Pediatric Emergency Conference hosted by NSU’s Institute for Child Health Policy.

For more information, help and assistance or resources on suicide prevention, please visit: www.nova.edu/suicideprevention