Courtesy of West Virginia State University
West Virginia State University’s (WVSU) Counseling and Wellness Services and Department of Health and Human Performance is sponsoring a Health Expo and Out of the Darkness Walk Suicide Prevention Walk on Thursday, April 27. The Health Expo is from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. inside the James C. Wilson University Union. The Out of the Darkness Walk is at 12:30 p.m.
The Health Expo will consist of health presentations, a vertical leap station, fitness testing, mental health screenings, and Naloxone training. and more than 30 community agencies and wellness information tables. Some organizations represented at the Expo include the American Lung Association, Thomas Health, Center for Organ Recovery & Education (CORE), YWCA RESOLVE, CAMC Ryan White HIV Program, FamilyCare Health Centers, and many others.
The Out of the Darkness Walk is a partnership with WVSU Counseling and Wellness Services and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP). Anyone can register to walk as an individual or with a team. The walks are the AFSP’s signature student fundraising series, designed to engage youth and young adults in the fight to prevent suicide. Participants can walk to support a friend, a loved one, or yourself. The AFSP says depression, bipolar, anxiety disorder, and other mental health conditions will affect 1 in 4 people and too often the illnesses go untreated. In the United States alone, someone attempts suicide every minute.