Monthly Metro Area LOSS Team Update

April was a busy month for the Metro Area LOSS Team. Over the past few weeks I have been meeting with local chaplains, law enforcement, and funeral homes to discuss the LOSS Team. It is vital that our first responders know how to reach us and understand what kind of support we can provide the families.

Each and every group I met with, I heard the same kind of responses, “There is such a need for a group like this.” Too often chaplains and grief specialists find themselves working with a family who has just lost someone they love to suicide and they simply don’t know where to refer them for direct suicide survivor support. Our goal is to fill that void in our community by providing each family with a list local support groups, reading material, and direct peer to peer support. Our volunteers want to use their stories of survival to help the newly bereaved begin their own journey of healing.

During this month’s team meeting, we had a special guest sit in on the first few minutes. WOWT came to capture The Metro Area LOSS Team in action! While they obviously were not able to film any discussions about call-outs, or stay for the majority of the meeting due to confidentiality, they were able to hear our team members’ stories.

To watch the full 30 minute suicide awareness special, tune into WOWT on Thursday, May 5^th at 6:30 p.m.

Our 24/7 LOSS phone is to be used only by sheriffs, chaplains, and any other first responders responding to a suicide call. It is not a suicide prevention hotline. If you or someone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please call 1(800)273-TALK (8255) or 911, if it is an emergency. If you or someone you know has recently lost someone to suicide and would like to schedule a meeting with the on-call LOSS team, please contact The Kim Foundation at (402)891-6911.

Jill Hamilton, Project Coordinator, The Kim Foundation

Jill Hamilton has been the Project Coordinator at The Kim Foundation since 2014. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and public relations from The University of Nebraska at Omaha in 2009. Since working at the foundation, she has become an active member of the Nebraska State Suicide Prevention Coalition, Nebraska LOSS Advisory Committee, The Omaha Metro Hoarding Taskforce, The Early Childhood Mental Health Coalition, Nebraska State Conference Planning Committee; she is a volunteer mentor with Y.E.S., and serves as the Outreach Coordinator for the Metro Area LOSS Team.