Organizers of the RISE Southwest Suicide Prevention and Awareness Walk are preparing for the event’s fifth year, scheduled for 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Sept. 12 at Montezuma Park, 3 W. Montezuma Ave. in Cortez.
The walk is held during Suicide Awareness Month. It is hosted in collaboration with the Montezuma County Public Health Department and the Suicide Awareness for Everyone Coalition with the goal of “fostering positive community beliefs around help-seeking and building connectedness,” according to a news release.
RISE Southwest was formed in 2022 after residents Derek Streeter, Corin Wolf and Carly Wolf approached MCPHD about bringing a walk to the area. The event has since drawn about 200 people to Montezuma Park each year.
The event will include activities like free breakfast and coffee, tables with resources for mental health, music, speakers “sharing stories focused on resilience,” a poster craft station to write positive messages, sidewalk chalk messages and inspiring quotes, bead necklaces that are color-coded to symbolize how suicide has affected attendees’ lives, and a ribbon arch dedicated to those who died due to suicide and more.
Participants will also be addressed by speakers, who have not yet been announced. Following the speakers, attendees will walk through the ribbon arch and onto the Montezuma Avenue route.
RISE Southwest said money raised will help support future events and provide resources like free grief support groups, which was piloted by RISE Southwest in 2024.
All are welcome to attend. More information, including how to volunteer or contribute, is available on the RISE Southwest Facebook page or by emailing streeter.d@gmail.com.
Those in crisis can call, text or chat with the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988, or by contacting the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741.
bduran@the-journal.com
