Suicide is the second-leading cause of death among young people aged 10 to 24 in New York, a troubling statistic underscored by Queens having the highest number of confirmed suicides across the city’s five boroughs, according to the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s latest report.
Addressing this urgent issue, Elmhurst Hospital’s Suicide Prevention in Youth Program (ESPY) is working tirelessly to raise awareness and provide support to the Queens community.
During a Nov. 14 event at Elmhurst Hospital, Assistant Program Director Natasha Edwards highlighted ESPY’s mission, emphasizing their dedication to “empowering diverse communities with information and resources to help prevent youth suicides.”
“We hope to create a culture of suicide prevention through the stabilization of mental health. We’ve learned that not many people want to say the s-word. We want to say the s-word. We want to talk about suicide. We want to talk about prevention and discuss how we can support each other,” Edwards added.
The ‘small but mighty’ ESPY team has been aiming to inspire hope in the community since starting the program in 2022, with most of the team hired in June 2023.
By the end of 2023, ESPY had attended over 20 events and worked with over 1,000 individuals in the community. Now, the group’s data shows that they have served over 15,000.
ESPY hosted a successful block party recently in September where they saw between 600-700 attendees come out in support of National Suicide Prevention Week.
“We understand that if someone has food insecurities the last thing they are thinking about is their mental health. If someone is homeless, the last thing they are concerned about is their mental health,” Edwards explained.
“We are hoping our team can help individuals to bridge that gap. We are committed to helping with housing. We have our CHWs (Community Health Workers) who are working with our community partners to see ‘how can I come into your organization and be a part of your professional development’ where we give mental health workshops one-on-one.”
ESPY has the potential to be even more impactful in the Queens community with continued support and partnership and they have insisted that ‘the work has just begun’.
They are continuing to reach out to businesses and organizations where they can come in and arrange a free mental health or suicide awareness workshop that will benefit many individuals.
For more information, contact the Elmhurst Suicide Prevention in Youth Program at ElmhurstESPY@nychhc.org.
