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La Salle County government leaders were joined by city and county elected officials, law enforcement, emergency responders, advocates, Camino Real Community Services, the Wintergarden Women’s Shelter, the Cotulla Woman’s Club, the Court-Appointed Special Advocates, the Children’s Alliance of South Texas, Cotulla ISD administrators, church leaders and the public on Tuesday, September 10, in witnessing a proclamation by County Judge Leodoro Martinez III for September as Suicide Prevention and Awareness Month, with a special message reinforcing community ties and a resolve to increase public awareness and education in mental health issues and intervention in personal crises, notably among youths. The judge said he believes suicide “is not just a statistic, but involves all of us, as well as friends, relatives and loved ones,” and that he supports a community-wide effort to “start the conversation” on mental health. “We can intervene,” the judge said, “and guide them to the help they need, because compassion saves lives.” County Attorney and CWC member Elizabeth Martinez reminded attendees that national studies indicate a suicide occurs every 11 minutes in the US and that “mental health is something we often don’t want to discuss.” Woman’s Club member Louisa Franklin joined Atty. Martinez in promoting the use of the 988 emergency number for personal crisis and said she believes “you can do something to stop this tragedy in our community and across the world.” Judge Martinez signed the proclamation by adding that county organizations and law enforcement are “on the front lines of restoring hope” and that “every member of the community should understand that we are all fighting our battles, and we can all help prevent suicide.”

(CURRENT Photo: Marc Robertson)