Today we’d like to introduce you to Kim Hess.
Kim, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Cassidy is our beautiful 16-year old daughter who tragically lost her life to suicide December 20, 2015. Cassidy was the happiest, funniest, most free-spirited person you would ever meet. She enjoyed life to the fullest, she was fearless! She was goofy, a cheerleader, often she would bring laughter to the room, loved the outdoors, and she had a huge heart for all animals. Cassidy was a loyal friend and a loving daughter. She had incredible friends and a supporting family who loved her unconditionally. Cassidy had her whole world ahead of her… yet she fell victim to suicide.
Cassidy didn’t fit the typical mold you would expect from a victim of suicide. She wasn’t depressed, she wasn’t bullied, she wasn’t unhappy. She loved her friends and she loved life! She had no past history of depression and she showed no warning signs before choosing to end her life that day. This devastation came as a horrific shock to our family. Cassidy did not reach out to anyone for help before choosing to end her life that Monday … she kept silent.
After going through the unimaginable pain and devastation of losing Cassidy to suicide so unexpectedly, we felt a strong calling and responsibility to make sure this did not happen to any other family in our community. Sadly, Cassidy’s suicide was just one of many teen suicides our community suffered last school year. We recognize the need to communicate and spread the awareness about suicide with our youth. In Cassidy’s memory and honor, we have created the Cassidy Joined for Hope foundation. This foundation is the seed for the student led movement that has begun in our community for the purpose of preventing teen suicides and saving lives.
The mission of the Cassidy Joined for Hope Foundation is to PREVENT TEEN SUICIDE. We will provide resources, support and education to schools and communities in order to save our teens.
Suicide is preventable. Prevention and awareness must be a community effort, starting with our kids and our schools. By removing the stigma and breaking the silence about suicide, we can open the uncomfortable but life-saving conversations in the schools and homes. We aim to educate students, teachers and parents about the warning signs that may trigger suicidal thoughts through mental health screening programs. These programs will help identify at-risk students in time to offer resources necessary for treatment.
The Cassidy Joined for Hope Foundation has brought awareness and prevention to the schools through student led “Joined for Hope” Clubs. These school clubs are seeded by the Foundation to address teen suicide prevention by promoting hope, kindness and safe places for honest discussions about their mental health. “Joined for Hope” Clubs focus on preventative measures, self-value, anti-bullying, social media dangers, and simply spreading the powerful message that EVERY life matters. To date, there are five schools that have a “Joined for Hope” Club. Their number one goal is to provide support and save lives.
The Cassidy Joined for Hope Foundation will continue to spread suicide awareness throughout the entire community through speaking events, educating our community about the real pressures and dangers our teens are facing today, focusing on preventative measures and award scholarships to graduating seniors who have a passion to Break the Silence about teen suicide.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Removing the stigma associated with suicide is never easy but we have had great success in our community. Through community wide speaking events that openly discuss taboo topics such as suicide, depression and many other struggles our teens face in the world of social media, we have opened the door for these uncomfortable but important conversations. We have received so many testimonies from parents about how our messages of breaking the silence has started these life saving conversations in their own homes. Our mission has started a ripple effect that is finally reaching these teens.
Our first year, the Cavs Joined for Hope club held a community wide kickball tournament to raise awareness for teen suicide prevention. We had over 500 participants! This will be an annual tournament held during the month of September, which is the national suicide prevention month. We will be hosting our second “Kick-Fest” tournament September, 2018.
Our Joined for Hope clubs also participated in the Greater Houston area “Out of the Darkness Walk”, sponsored by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. We will walk again this February 17 and Kim Hess will be the keynote speaker.
Cassidy Joined for Hope – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
The Cassidy Joined for Hope Foundation was created to prevent teen suicide. We want to reach as many teens as possible through our student led “Joined for Hope” school clubs. We welcome any school to join our mission to break the silence and offer hope to their students. We recognize that teen suicides are not isolated instances, but the second leading cause of death for ages 10-24. No community or family is immune.
I am the founder and president of Cassidy Joined for Hope. I share Cassidy’s story with schools, churches, and community events in hopes to make sure no other family loses their child to suicide.
Cassidy Joined for Hope Foundation is honored to be the first nonprofit corporation to be awarded one of the prestigious 2017 Hometown Hero Awards in The Woodlands, Texas from Interfaith. We are so blessed to have the community’s support.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
I measure success through achieving my goals. My goal is to prevent teen suicide by reaching as many at risk teens as possible and offer them hope before it’s too late. Through community support and Joined for Hope Clubs, we have been able to do this. We continue to receive messages from students and parents about how thankful they are for breaking the silence about suicide so they can get help without feeling isolated. This confirms that our mission has been successful. We have the community talking openly about suicide prevention and together we are saving lives.
Contact Info:
- Address: 7 Switchbud Place, Suite 192-526
The Woodlands, TX 77380 - Website: www.CassidyJoinedforHope.com
- Email: info@CassidyJoinedforHope.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cassidyjoinedforhope/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=Cassidy%20Joined%20for%20Hope
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/CJHforHope
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