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Wauwatosa coffee shops help in suicide prevention campaign
The Wauwatosa Health Department partnered with 10 local coffee shops to distribute 10,000 coffee sleeves with suicide prevention messages during National Suicide Prevention Month.
WAUWATOSA, Wis. - Pamphlets, posters and billboards have long been the tools local health departments use to reach their communities. But during National Suicide Prevention Month, the City of Wauwatosa tried something different: coffee sleeves.
What we know:
Vendetta Coffee Bar co-owner Bill Haley said the shop’s steady stream of meetings, remote workers and casual meetups made it the perfect spot to reach people.
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"There’s business meetings, people that work from here. People that just want to meet up for a chat," Haley said. "So like, the whole connection and talking and communicating with each other is like what coffee is kinda all about."
A few months ago, the Wauwatosa Health Department began searching for ways to raise awareness where people would actually notice. The department partnered with 10 coffee shops to distribute 10,000 suicide prevention coffee sleeves.
"It says, ‘Your story is still brewing. Stay,’" said Hannah Gumina, the department’s substance use specialist. "Sometimes, it seems like when people are in crisis or having a mental health crisis, they don’t know necessarily where to turn or what resources are out there."
Dig deeper:
Each sleeve also includes the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline and a QR code linking to more information.
"Most of the businesses that we partnered with are out of them, so yeah, people are drinking a lot of coffee too, I think," Gumina said with a laugh.
Haley said he hopes the message extends beyond September.
"If we kind of keep it hush hush, that’s when it becomes an issue," he said. "People don’t want to talk about their issues. But this is something we want to talk about."
The Wauwatosa Health Department said it will continue to look for creative ways to connect with the community.
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The participating coffee shops include: Cuppa Tosa, Cranky Al's, Rocket Baby Bakery, Black Twig Bakery, Vendetta Coffee Bar, Cafe Blue, Vennture Brew, Idyll Coffee Roasters, Anodyne Coffee Roasting and Moon Dude Coffee.
What you can do:
If you or someone you know is in need of help, call 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.
The QR code goes to the health department's suicide prevention resources page.
The Source: The information in this post was collected and produced by FOX6 News.