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Fairway mayor proclaims National Co‑Responder Week and Suicide Prevention Awareness Month
Summary
Mayor Melanie Hepperley read two proclamations recognizing National Co‑Responder and Crisis Responder Week (week of Sept. 15) and National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month (September 2024), noting local program staffing and encouraging community support and awareness.
Mayor Melanie Hepperley read two proclamations at the Sept. 9 council meeting: one designating the week of Sept. 15 as National Co‑Responder and Crisis Responder Week in Fairway, and a second proclaiming September 2024 as National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month.
The mayor described Johnson County Mental Health Center’s co‑responder program — established in 2011 to embed mental‑health clinicians with law‑enforcement responses — and said the program now includes 2.5 co‑responder positions and 15 partnerships with local law‑enforcement agencies. She also noted the mobile crisis response team includes 10 positions and that three new positions had been approved recently by the Johnson County Board of County Commissioners.
On suicide prevention, the mayor urged residents to be vigilant, to check on family and neighbors, and to use local and national resources. She cited national statistics that suicide is a leading cause of death for certain age groups and named local organizations working on prevention, including the Johnson County Suicide Prevention Coalition and the National Alliance on Mental Illness.
The proclamations were read into the public record and dated Sept. 2024.
