Shayley is my daughter. She was homecoming queen, cheerleader, and always wearing a smile. She was hiding a deep depression none of us knew about and died by suicide on August 31, 2016. This tragedy rocked our small community to the core. During this nightmare, we realized that we have little to no resources, training, or awareness nearby. She had left a suicide note in which she requested #realtalk about her and wanted anti-suicide songs played at her funeral. Since losing a part of my heart, I along with many community members, have vowed to honor her last request and raise local awareness about suicide and depression. I will honor this request until the day comes that I get to see her beautiful face again.
In the first years that we've suffered her loss, we have: organized bbq's/bake sales to raise local awareness start up funds. Held an auction with proceeds going to suicide awareness. We held a rock painting event where we placed awareness info on painted rocks to hide and let people find within the community. Designed a billboard along the highway to promote depression/suicide awareness including the suicide hotline and texting numbers, had a poker run in her memory, walked in the Christmas parade handing out awareness info on candy canes, sold shirts to raise awareness, and had a legal holiday declared in our county on the day we lost her called Random Act of Kindness day as well as our county naming September Suicide Prevention Month in Washington County. We had people participate far and wide in this new holiday, spreading awareness in large numbers. We distributed good deed cards to people with awareness info as we did a kind act, we walked in several Out of the Darkness walks in her memory, held a butterfly/balloon release on her birthday, became a non-profit organization, and this was all in one year. We are looking forward to spreading so much more awareness in the upcoming years!
We plan to get more trainings held in our local area to provide mental health education. We plan on continuing to spread awareness though fundraisers, advertising, participating in walks, setting up informational booths at events, increasing the random acts of kindness while supplying depression/suicide awareness, become better educated ourselves in order to better serve our community, begin speaking publicly, sharing our story in hopes to save others. Participating in any activity we can in order to promote local awareness of suicide and depression.
We work very hard at the beginning of each school year to make sure that every school has journals so that students have a healthy outlet to explore their feelings and emotions. This is especially critical during the Covid pandemic quarantines.
We will be celebrating RAOK Day again this year! Join us in spreading a little kindness all over. Whether it be paying for someone's food or just holding a door open, kindness goes a long way! We look forward to seeing the community come together!
We will be holding a change drive outside of Potosi Walmart. Come support us and check out our merchandise!
Join us in a memorial balloon release for Shayley's birthday at St. Joachim to celebrate her 22nd birthday. Time is TBD.
Our first AFSP walk is September 28, 2019 in Farmington. September 29, 2019 is the walk in Creve Couer and October 19, 2019 in Desoto. We look forward to seeing you there!
SAVE THE DATE! Come join us for our annual auction at the KC Hall in Old Mines. This event funds our organization for the year so we can keep helping others and spreading awareness!
In reality, some of the saddest people may appear to be the happiest people who smile all the time. You never know what someone is struggling with. Never judge a book by it's cover. Shayley hid major depressive disorder hidden behind the biggest smile you've ever seen.
No one would ever say someone who died of cancer or suffered diabetes was selfish...but when the mind gets sick, because it's an invisible illness, some blame the person suffering. If someone reaches the point where they are thinking of ending their life, they are such a dark place that their brain is no longer functioning properly. Many suicidal people feel that they are a burden and that they are actually helping others by this act. The disease makes them feel this way, not themselves. To say someone is selfish who is suicidal is a result of not understanding the sickness they suffer. Just because it's an illness you can't see, it's a disease nonetheless. It's one we need to take seriously because someone completes suicide in United States every 40 seconds!
Imagine struggling from a disease no one can see, being judged by stereotypes and dealing with this alone. Depression is so much more than sadness. It can cause physical pain, cause lack of or extreme amounts of sleep, lower your immune system, effect your appetite, and have many various effects on the physical body as well as the mind. To tell someone to just get over it is the same as telling someone to get up out of a wheelchair and walk. It's still a disease, it's just one of the mind. We know oxygen is there but we can't see it, yet many continue to stigmatize depression because it can't be physically seen.
The fear suicide has created this idea that if we don't talk about it, it will just go away. We would never sweep cancer under the rug or keep it hidden for fear of the spoken word may make it contagious, yet that's exactly what happens with suicide and depression. One cannot put an idea such as suicide into someone's head, but shying away from the topic shows them that we are embarrassed about the topic which can lead to inferior feelings of the person suffering and cause them to further isolate themselves. Talking about depression/suicide with your family or anyone who needs it shows them that we are all not ok sometimes and provides an ideal way to talk about healthy ways to handle these feelings safely. We talk to our kids about stranger danger, we talk to them about drugs, but we tend to stay away from touchy subjects such as depression and suicide. We can't teach them healthy outlets if the subject never comes up. I sure wish I had known to discuss this with my child....
Suicide ideation and/or depression can hit any age, any race, any financial status, etc. The ONLY barrier it encounters is education and awareness. The more we believe the stigmas associated with suicide/depression, the more we feed this terrible disease. We see more and more suicides from all walks of life, from the rich to the poor, to the average Joe. Suicide can strike anyone and 1 in four people suffer from depression so odds are someone you know or you yourself may suffer. It's OK to not be OK sometimes, the key is to have a healthy plan in place on how to handle it.
Our dedicated team took time out in South Carolina and Tennessee this summer to spread awareness and do good deeds for complete strangers because we need more awareness everywhere!
Milo is the newest member of Shayley's Angels! He is currently being trained to be a therapy dog to assist us at events and help with emotional support. We look forward to what he can provide to the organization and community!
Helping break the silence, our amazing team dedicated their motorcycle to mental health/suicide awareness in memory of Shayley and to help others.
Similar to CPR courses, we are now trained to offer courses on depression, anxiety, substance abuse, suicide, and other mental health disorders.
We have new merchandise in stock. Tattoos, lanyards, clip reels, buttons, bracelets, shirts, hats and more! Contact any Shayley's Angels team member to get your latest Shayley's Angels Inc. merchandise!
We would like to thank each and everyone of you for making our 2nd RAOK Day a huge success! So much kindness was spread everywhere. We are looking forward to what next year brings. We couldn't have made it so successful without you! Thank you again!!
Thank you to each and everyone of you who supported our event. Due to your generosity, we raised over $13,000 for suicide awareness! All of this funding will stay local and help fund Shayley's Angels for another year. We appreciate each and every one of you!!
Our wonderful team attended the SEMO Suicide Prevention conference in Cape Girardeau to extend our training to help others.
July 27th we had a butterfly/balloon release for Shayley's birthday.
We had an information booth setup at the Washington County Fair to hand out resources.
We teamed up with Starlite Drive-In Theatre for a mental health/suicide awareness car show.
We are getting ready to do another round of journals before school lets out so students have the resources should they need them over the summer. These are journals that look regular (for both boys and girls) that have the texting app., etc. should they reach a point they may need a little support. Journaling is a healthy way to get out your thoughts and feelings. If you'd like some, PLEASE let us know so we can get these out before kids leave for summer breaks. Feel free to share this information! Counselors, if you'd like some to give out to students you know who may benefit, let us know!
These journal kits included a journal with resources inside to help people such as the texting no. for a free counselor, the hotline no., our website, and tips to use to get out of an anxiety attack. We included cool ways to use the journals such as color-coding your writing so you can see the progress visually, and we included pens to use as well.
It is with our deepest condolences that we pray for strength for Summer's family as our community mourns the loss of another Angel. Summer, may you have found peace...
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A wonderful group of volunteers got together and pulled red wagons full of gifts to give out to the local residents of Georgian Gardens, Potosi Manor and the local group home. The residents were as grateful for the company during the holidays as they were the presents!
Since our push to raise awareness has begun, we have had not one, but two local schools hold an awareness game where Shayley's Angels, Inc. was able to speak to the crowd of teenatger and their families,throw out awareness bracelets and wear awareness t-shirts. GREAT JOB KINGSTON K-14 AND VALLEY/CALEDONIA!! HUGE STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION.
Our theme "The Many Faces of Depression" incorporated soldiers, doctors, athletes, even Wonder Woman, Cat Woman, and Jedis to prove the point that ANYONE can be a victim of depression.
We work very hard to ensure all schools in Washington County have journals when school starts to give to students who may need a healthy outlet to channel their feelings. These journals have resources in them should they ever need them. These are provided for all schools, home-schooled as well as virtual students.
We've been handing out cards to people who may need them that contain local resources and numbers that may help them in time of need.
We have been able to get hats, hoodies, and buttons made to promote awareness and get some real talk going about suicide and depression.
We sold homemade chocolates and suckers in the shape of suicide/depression awareness ribbons with secret messages inside the tins such as "You matter". Holiday time can be a depressing time for many, what a great way to lift someone's spirits through chocolate!
Great big thank you's go out to everyone who donated, supported, helped, came out and/or walked with us. This event was a great way to end Suicide Awareness and Prevention month. We had informational booths, music, a tribute to our Veterans, police, emergency rescue workers, firefighters, food, face painting and much more. We could not do these types of events without your support!
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Key points to remember:
If you find yourself in the middle of an anxiety attack or having suicidal thoughts, THIS TOO SHALL PASS! Give yourself 20 more minutes to calm yourself down because it can't get better if you are not here! EVERYONE at some point has experienced depression and YOU ARE NOT ALONE!
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