Walk for Hope raises awareness for suicide prevention in Cass County
CASSOPOLIS, Mich. --- The League for Encouraging Empowerment held their second annual Walk for Hope Sunday afternoon in Cass County for suicide prevention awareness. The walk went through downtown Cassopolis and ended at Stone Lake to hear from local mental health professionals about the resources available in Cass County.
The goal of the walk is to give hope to the community of Cassopolis, especially for those that struggle with mental health.
“Suicide is in Cass County, but it’s not talked about a lot,” says Carmen Peake, a Walk for Hope organizer.
The annual walk for hope brings attention to the issue of suicide in the small town of Cassopolis and sheds light on local resources for people that are in need.
“People come and we can give them the resources they need, because we know that they’re out there,” says Peake. “We just want to make sure they know that there’s people out there that care about them, and we want to help them.”
Organizers say it’s important for the walk to continue each year during Suicide Prevention Month to bring the issue of suicide to a larger scale in the community.
“We kind of pay attention to what we want to unless it’s on a broader scale,” says another organizer, Creole Johnson. “So if we consistently bring it on a broader scale, it’ll become more important to everybody like it is to us.”
The League for Encouraging Empowerment has a calendar full of events coming up that will help to build up the community of Cassopolis.