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Missoula issues proclamations for National Recovery Month, Suicide Prevention Week and Hispanic and Latino Heritage Month
Summary
Missoula leaders proclaimed September National Recovery Month, a week in September for suicide prevention and Sept. 15–Oct. 15 as Hispanic and Latino Heritage Month; health and recovery providers urged ongoing investments in services and lethal-means safety.
Missoula Mayor Andrea Davis and city officials issued three proclamations at the Sept. 8 City Council meeting recognizing National Recovery Month, Suicide Prevention Week and Hispanic and Latino Heritage Month.
The National Recovery Month proclamation notes that substance use disorder is a chronic health issue and says about 13,000 Missoula residents have struggled with substance use, with nearly 10,000 of those seeking or engaged in recovery. Shannon Spruill, executive director of Recovery Friendly Montana, thanked the council and urged the city to “let this proclamation serve as a reminder, to invest in real resources for prevention, treatment, and recovery services.” Sherry Rigg, executive director of Stepping Stones Behavioral Health Services, said providers “do our best to help transform [people] into good citizens of our community.”
The joint proclamation recognizing Suicide Prevention Week cites statewide and local data and promotes lethal-means safety. Jackie Briggs, coordinator of Project Tomorrow Montana with United Way, told the council that Montana’s age-adjusted suicide rate is “28.7,” compared with a national average of 14.8, and said Missoula County’s suicide rate has fallen to 17.5 per 100,000 in 2024, “the lowest since 2019.” Briggs noted firearms account for a majority of suicides locally and stressed that “gun locks save lives,” saying the community distributed nearly 900 free gun locks over the past year.
The council also proclaimed Sept. 15–Oct. 15 Hispanic and Latino Heritage Month and invited the public to Viva Montana’s Latin Heritage Festival on Sept. 13 at Keras Park; a Viva Montana representative described the festival as a day of “music, food, dance, and stories” and said the event would run “10 a.m. till 10 p.m.”
No formal votes were required for the proclamations, which were presented at the start of the meeting. Speakers representing recovery, behavioral health and community festival organizers appeared at the dais to accept the proclamations and to encourage continued public education, prevention and community support.
