‘STAY’ sheds light on suicide prevention

WASILLA — The “STAY” campaign is a suicide prevention program based out of Wasilla. It is designed to reach out to all of Alaska and support people who have decided to stay and give others a reason to stay, too.

Alaska, has one of the highest rates of suicide in the country, outnumbering homicide deaths by a margin of three to two, according to the American Association of Suicidology. It has many different programs for suicide prevention including community based QPR training, the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium suicide prevention program, AFSP, and You Are Not Alone.

STAY, however, goes about suicide prevention with a slightly different strategy.

Justin Pendergrass, a suicide prevention coordinator at My House in Wasilla, helped launched STAY on Sept. 19 with a music video that gives a positive outlook on suicide prevention. The event was more successful than Justin imagined, with 360 people across the Valley participating and wearing STAY T-shirts supporting the campaign and bringing encouragement to others.

Justin came out of rough childhood, was homeless at 16 years old, and struggled with addictions and suicide since he was young. For Justin, music was a coping mechanism.

When Justin came to a point where he was about to quit life altogether and become another statistic to the second-leading cause of death for ages 15-44, a spark of music came his mind. It was through the first lyrics he wrote that he experienced the motivation to not give up on his life or the people he cares about, and stay.

“Music did save my life,” Justin said.

With a new passion for life, Justin began to work as a suicide prevention specialist for the You Are Not Alone program before going to back school. That is when he decided to start his music label, Newsense.

The organizers at My House caught wind of Justin due to his previous work with the You Are Not Alone program, as well as the music he had written to support the program. My House asked him to perform his music at My House, but because he wrote the song for You Are Not Alone, he didn’t feel like it was his. So at first, he declined. However, over a weekend, Justin put together another song that gave a positive message for suicide prevention written specifically for My House.

Justin's song helped to kick-off the STAY campaign which My House was trying to get rolling at the time. STAY was a concept Justin had always wanted to turn into a campaign, but never had the time and resources to do so.

“When they presented me this campaign, it was exactly what I had been trying to find,” Justin explained. “Why can’t we give a positive message through suicide prevention, instead of this stigma, this doom and gloom, this walk in the darkness? That’s not what I wanted to represent.”

On Sept. 19, Justin performed for the STAY Day event at My House and released his video and song that he created for this campaign, which are both easily titled “Stay.” The September event earned the attention of several different organizations that wanted Justin to come work for them or who offered to write grants for him to work for other places.

“It turned out to be the SouthCentral Foundation who wrote a grant for me to work at My House as a suicide prevention specialist,” Justin said.

Now, Justin is working at My House helping homeless teens obtain every resource they can, whether it be internships, or more basic needs such as clothing, housing, food, or any other support that they need to get themselves back on his or her feet in a homeless situation.

“Many kids come for Supper Club; it’s just from 3-5. That’s really great, and we provide that Monday through Friday. It’s just a place for kids to sit down and eat an actual warm meal,” Justin said.

Justin and STAY might be just in time because according to the American Association of Suicidology, kids who are exposed to suicide and suicidal tendencies are much more likely to commit or attempt suicide themselves. Between the years 2005 and 2014, Alaska had an average of 152.5 suicides a year, which is about 2.6 deaths a week. Justin and STAY tackle this problem and suicide prevention positively by supporting and encouraging those who struggle with it.

“STAY, it’s like a motto. It’s a way to think.” Justin explained.

More information can be found regarding teen homelessness and STAY in the Mat-Su and the My House program at myhousematsu.org.

Hannah Reinhardt is a sophomore and Journalism II student at Mat Su Central.