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GREETINGS FROM IRENE M. IBARRA
 The tragedy of suicide touches all of our lives. It is at once a highly private event and a most public occurrence. The loss of life to suicide devastates families and friends, creates deep concern and stress within communities and even has significant economic impacts.
We don’t yet fully understand why the problem of suicide in the U.S. is highest in the Rocky Mountain Region, but thankfully we do have a growing number of people and organizations committed to changing this statistic. Many people do this work because they have lost loved ones to suicide, while others bring mental health expertise or a passion to help their community. Over the past five years, we have had the opportunity to support the suicide prevention work of many of these individuals. Collectively, we have reached out to people in 31 Colorado counties to increase awareness of the problem, reduce stigmas and provide improved access to effective prevention programs.
Now we have an important opportunity to coordinate, consolidate and link these multiple efforts. Colorado’s new mental health care champion, First Lady Jeannie Ritter, has been named Honorary Chairperson of the Colorado Suicide Prevention & Intervention Plan. With Trust support, Mrs. Ritter and Mental Health America of Colorado will receive input from experts and residents statewide to develop a comprehensive statewide prevention plan that will both recommend ways to strengthen existing work and build the case for increased mental health and suicide prevention support.
 As this planning effort begins, work is also underway to update The Trust’s 2002 report, Suicide in Colorado – one of our most-requested resources. We look forward to once again sharing current information to further help those dedicated to addressing the problem of suicide in our state.
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