NAMPA, Idaho — Parents and teens across the Treasure Valley are invited to a free concert and event focused on mental health and suicide awareness.
Connection is the Cure is happening at the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa on Wednesday from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. Counselors, community groups, churches and school representatives will be on hand discussing mental health and suicide prevention.
One Meridian woman decided to start the grassroots project after losing her brother to suicide earlier this year and she hopes to bring more awareness to the community and reduce the stigma surrounding mental health.
“After losing him, we felt really strongly that we needed to do something in the community just to bring more awareness to the resources that exist,” September Frogley said.
Frogley lost her brother to suicide in may after a battle with mental health. The loss pushed her to create Connection is the Cure.
“My brother was really tenacious and very persistent, and he had just a love for people and serving others and we just really wanted to carry that on and carry on that legacy of his,” Frogley said.
“The last four years, I’ve been doing a lot of music that was focused on mental health and suicide prevention,” Singer Alex Boyé said.
Boyé is a singer performing during the event, he’s been traveling and bringing awareness about suicide prevention which is something very meaningful to him.
“I was 16 and I wanted to take my life. I was going through a really tough time and I went to a nightclub and heard a song and it changed my life and spoke to my soul and I remember thinking, if I could do that for another artist, I'd be living a good life," Boyé said.” I've been doing a lot of these types of concerts in hopes I can help other people.”
Local resources will be available, like counselors and more. The goal is connecting with people through music, knowing you are not alone and bringing awareness to mental health and suicide prevention.
“Connection is the cure. We’re all connecting and just grounding each other and supporting each other and also sending a message out that we want to be a part of something that can save lives and can bless lives and bring resources together,” Boyé said.
“When you are in that state of crisis with either yourself or a family member, you are just drowning. It is near impossible to reach out to that lifeline so our hope is that people will be able to gain some resources and education on resources that exist here before something happens.”
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