Partnering With You For the Health of Your Community

Dear CHL Friends and Supporters,                      

  November 2022

“May your tears come from laughing, you find friends worth having

As every year passes, they mean more than gold

May you win and stay humble, smile more than grumble

And know when you stumble, you're never alone”  - Never Alone by Jim Brickman

As I begin my new role as the Executive Director  here at The Center for Health and Learning  (CHL),  this Jim Brickman song lyrics reminds of the important work we do collectively at CHL in the areas of Suicide Prevention, Mental Health, and Substance Misuse.  The pandemic in addition to the stresses of economic strains, and isolation that so many people are experiencing exponentially over the past three years has resulted in an increased sense of need and urgency to support, encourage, include, and provide additional resources across not only VT, but our nation and beyond!

I can say this with conviction, because in April of 2020, I lost a dear friend and loved one who ended his life by suicide.  This lived experience and loss taught me the impact on not just me,  but my friends, and the larger community. On average, one death by suicide impacts approximately 135 people. When this loss occurred, I was a principal in my 26th year of public teaching and administration in VT.  I was seeing the need for mental health support and services in the faces of the children I served, and in the families we partnered with. I was focusing my energy in schools on about 80% social emotional wellness, and 20 % traditional academic learning due to the significant and complex needs we encountered every day in schools.  The needs continue to be real and the needs are now!

To that end, Sara Haimowitz our Director of Development at CHL and The VT Suicide Prevention Center (VTSPC) , and I, are kicking off our end of year fundraising campaign beginning on “Giving Tuesday” (11/29/22) and continuing it for two weeks, concluding on December 12,2022 with a goal of raising $25,000. Your contributions and donations are tax deductible and greatly appreciated!  No donation is too small or too large. Some people give one time, some have chosen monthly donations, or annual contributions consecutively.   At CHL and the VSPC we are able to continue our high quality and essential work in schools, businesses,  not for profits, and community groups through generous corporate and personal donations. Many employers offer a matching donation to make your contribution go even farther to reaching more people who are hurting and in need. 

To ensure that people know they are Never Alone, and that they know of the resources available to us all  through CHL and VTSPC please consider making a donation to CHL as you are able.   

If you are interested in learning more about the support and services CHL and VTSPC provides please feel free to reach out to either one of us!  We are happy to plan a conference call or video meeting. 

In partnership and progress,

Kathleen Kilbourne,                                                              

Executive Director                    

Center for Health and Learning              

VT Suicide Prevention Center                    

The Center for Health & Learning (CHL) has been a dedicated provider of suicide prevention and mental health promotion programs for over 20 years. 

Through our management of the VT Suicide Prevention Center, a public private partnership with the VT Agency of Human Services, CHL is integrally involved in the prevention of suicide in VT.  

Through Umatter®, CHL has connected schools and communities with practices that save lives, helping care providers, educational leaders, young adults, and professionals prevent suicide.

Here's what one supporter has to say:

CHL has earned the respect and attention of leaders throughout the state through its community education efforts.  Suicide prevention is extremely difficult work, in part because there are so many complex factors that can affect suicide risk in different ways for each of us as individuals.  We still have MUCH to learn and much more work to do.  I am grateful for CHL’s ongoing energy and devotion to this work.  

Your donation to CHL will have a direct impact on supporting survivors of suicide, and to address the needs of those with ongoing needs by enabling us to continue to provide life saving interventions and education. 

Please donate today and help us reach our friends, neighbors, relatives, co workers, and strangers in need of immediate supports.