Aaron Surma, Executive Director of NAMI joins Capital Chat to discuss resources available to our community.
Aaron has received mental health services for over twenty years. During this time, he has experienced first-hand the power of peer support. In particular, the role of peer support in helping people find their voice as it relates to their own recovery. His goal is for people in Juneau to feel the confidence to make decisions about their mental health care while making sure the proper resources are available to them. Before joining NAMI Juneau in 2020, Aaron worked for the Juneau Suicide Prevention Coalition and a variety of community mental health providers. He also has a degree in social work.
About NAMI:
In 2008, after several student suicide death Juneau School District Psychologist Brendan Kiernan, applied for a grant from the State of Alaska Department of Health and Social Services, Division of Behavioral Health to fund implementation of a suicide prevention curriculum known as “Signs of Suicide” or SOS at all district high schools.
Recognizing the importance of community-wide communication to address the problem of suicide in a comprehensive way, Brendan also formed a community-level advisory group consisting of representatives from local agencies and concerned Juneau residents. This group became known as The Juneau Community Suicide Prevention Task Force.
Over the next three years, the Task Force successfully:
- Implemented the SOS curriculum in all Juneau high schools
- Began presenting a version of the curriculum to middle school students
- Developed suicide prevention brochures targeting specific at-risk groups
- Organized suicide prevention trainings for agency support staff
- Developed www.juneausuicideprevention.org
- Created www.juneaumentalhealth.org
- Developed a community-base suicide intervention curriculum known as Understanding Suicide: Building Intervention Skills.
In the Summer of 2011, Juneau Youth Services assumed responsibility for managing the state grant. The Task Force was able to add two behavioral health specialists to work within the middle schools and high schools. They worked to identify and assist high-risk students and to provide training to school personnel. The Task Force also expanded their efforts to address “postvention” - by supporting families and community members impacted by a suicide death and helping to mitigate the risk of further suicides. In addition, a community-based services coordinator was hired to coordinate community public awareness, training and postvention activities.
In March of 2012, the Juneau Community Suicide Prevention Task Force voted to change its name to the Juneau Suicide Prevention Coalition in order to reflect the group’s broad-based and ongoing mission.
In 2015, the coalition completed a community needs assessment revealing that trauma, specifically Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs,) contribute to the majority of suicides. The coalition then helped to form Raising Our Children With Kindness (ROCK Juneau), a cross sector collaborative aiming to reduce ACEs and increase equity for all kids.
In 2020, the Juneau Suicide Prevention Coalition became a program of NAMI Juneau. Since 2020, JSPC has increased work in means reduction, started a mental health storytelling project, engaged in anti-racism work, and hosted a variety of outreach events with community partners throughout Southeast Alaska.
Since our merger, NAMI Juneau and JSPC staff and leadership underwent the heartfelt process of defining equity, accessible programming, inclusion of lived experience, and the creation of our Land Acknowledgement, which serves as a guiding document with our Vision and Mission Statements. This process and these principles continue to serve us in the examination (and re-examination) of how we serve our communities and each other. Our partnerships have grown and reflect the communities we are able to provide meaningful services to.
Together We Are Strong!
Jan 23 20269 m