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Local health council says county-funded counseling and outreach reached more than 170 residents; suicide remembrance set for Sept. 23
Summary
Representatives of the Charlesville County Health Council updated commissioners on a county-funded mental health initiative launched after several suicides; organizers reported patient counts, outreach activities and upcoming remembrance events.
Brenda Harper and Cathy Atwood of the Charlesville County Health Council told the Trousdale County Commission the council’s post‑COVID outreach and county-supported program have provided local counseling and outreach to hundreds of residents.
“Currently, we have 84 patients seeing people at our Hartsville center,” Brenda Harper said, and “173 different Trousdale County people during the last two years” had sought and received services through programs developed with county support and CARES grant money.
The health council said it received $80,000 from a CARES-era county grant to help launch local behavioral health services in 2021. The group used that funding to rent clinic space, contract with providers, procure a digital billboard and produce printed outreach materials. Health council members said the effort aimed to reduce barriers to care and the stigma surrounding mental health in the county.
Harper and Atwood said the county now has multiple providers available: an in‑county clinic (referenced by staff), the Westmoreland Clinic and Centerstone. Centerstone staff also see Trousdale County residents by video. Harper said one provider is in the county weekly and will increase hours if demand rises. The council described its early funding model as an “incubator,” noting the clinic now pays its own rent.
Harper detailed outreach and support activities: school programs, a remembrance event called “Trousdale Remembers” scheduled for Sept. 23 at 6 p.m. on the courthouse steps, and a remembrance wall to be displayed beginning Sept. 8 where community members can place ribbons. The council emphasized the importance of encouraging people who express worrying signs to seek help and of community support for survivors.
The health council said suicide counts are likely underreported in small communities and reported that Troublesdale (as cited in the presentation) had one of the higher per‑capita rates in the state for documented suicides; the council asked for continued support and community outreach.
Commissioners did not take a formal vote on the presentation; the health council left printed materials for distribution to the commission.
