CONTACT:
Dr. Dan Reidenberg, PSY.D., FAPA
SAVE - Suicide Awareness Voices of Education
952-946-7998 / dreidenberg@save.org
www.save.org
SAVE Hires New Director of Survivor And Bereavement Programs
(Minneapolis – June 29, 2010) – Suicide Awareness Voices of Education (SAVE), a national, nonprofit suicide prevention agency based in Minnesota, has announced the hiring of Franklin Cook as its Director of Survivor and Bereavement Programs. Cook is responsible for expanding SAVE’s survivor services in support of both individuals and communities who have been affected by a loss to suicide.
“This new position was created because survivors across the country deserve to get the help they need, when they need it and how they feel is best for them,” said Dan Reidenberg, SAVE’s Executive Director. “My goal is for survivors to see SAVE as an organization they can count on to help them in their time of need.”
For the past 10 years, Cook has worked as an independent consultant specializing in community-based suicide prevention programs and suicide bereavement support. For the past four years, he has managed and provided training for a federally funded youth suicide prevention project in South Dakota, where he has been active since 2001 in developing and implementing the state’s suicide prevention strategy. He is a longtime suicide survivor support group facilitator and has trained facilitators of mutual help support groups nationally since 2007. He has served on the Consumer/Survivor Sub-Committee of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline since 2005. Cook’s father died of suicide in 1978.
Providing grief support services has been a program area for SAVE since its inception in 1989. The organization’s website, save.org, features an entire section devoted to suicide bereavement issues, including how to speak to children about suicide and what to say to a suicide survivor. SAVE publishes the book Suicide Survivors: A Guide for Those Left Behind by Edina Wrobleski and the booklet Suicide: Coping With the Loss of a Friend or Loved One, both of which are a source of information and comfort for thousands of people each year.
In addition, SAVE provides support group referrals and a volunteer counseling/support service, shares personal stories from other survivors and offers opportunities to volunteer and support suicide prevention.
Cook’s addition to the SAVE staff was designed to increase the organization’s capacity for survivor outreach and assistance across the country as well as to provide a resource for those in other professions who are caring for people bereaved by suicide.
“Surviving any loss is difficult and losing a loved one to suicide is complicated by the many questions and feelings associated with how they died,” said Reidenberg. “Our new Director of Survivor and Bereavement Programs will be working on state-of-the-art grief programs, materials and resources for people touched by suicide to make sure that when they contact SAVE for help, they get the help they need.”
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About SAVE: The mission of SAVE is to prevent suicide through public awareness and education, eliminate stigma, and serve as a resource to those touched by suicide. For more information on SAVE and suicide prevention, go to www.save.org or call 952-946-7998.