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Our History

Our mission is to promote wellness, empowerment, and support to save lives and reduce suicidal behaviors by education, training, mentoring, and linking people with a variety of resources.

Description:
A Touch of Kindness (which is a part of Hepatitis, AIDS, Research Trust, http://www.heart-intl.net/ )was formed in June 2004 and is registered as a 501(c) 3 with the IRS) to provide volunteer mentors to persons battling with suicidal behaviors, either from mental illness or a chronic illness. Our mentoring program is unique because our mentors are available anytime, willing to meet face to face, and are willing to form a friendship to offer support and understanding.

According to official statistics, about a million people die by suicide annually, more than those murdered or killed in war.
According to 2005 data, suicides in the U.S. outnumber homicides by nearly 2 to 1 and ranks as the 11th leading cause of death in the country, ahead of liver disease and Parkinson's disease.
Worldwide suicide rates have increased by 60% in the past 50 years, mainly in the developing countries.

SUICIDE PREVENTION RECOVERY PROGRAMS

Mentoring Program

A Touch of Kindness has a unique approach to suicide prevention; the personal touch. What do you do when you’re not sick enough to be hospitalized? Who do you talk to if you sense a depressive episode coming on, but your therapist or psychiatrist is unavailable? How do you cope when, your spouse and other family members have abandoned you or refuse to take your phone calls?

A Touch of Kindness offers hope and personal attention that is so essential to recovery for mental illness.  A Touch of Kindness is building a network of mentors to help others who need help before they have another crisis or have to be re-hospitalized due to their depression.  To have someone who knows you that will take your call and meet with you on short notice is a simple, but powerful way to keep the ‘noonday demon’ of depression at bay.

The Mentoring Program works to pair clients and mentors with similar experiences. Mentors will offer their experience and hope. They are simply there to share with clients workable solutions to their problems, while remaining compassionate, understanding and objective in a loving manner. They are willing to share their time and form a friendship to prevent re-hospitalization. Some mentors carry a pager so they can offer a “warm line of support”, telephone reassurance, and 24 hour emergency services.

Speakers’ Bureau

The Speakers’ Bureau program provides volunteer speakers to community centers, inpatient wards, business organizations, schools, colleges, and health professionals. The audiences range from school aged children to senior citizens, from consumers to mental health professionals. Our services are available to any group looking for a speaker.

Peer Support Groups

Our support groups are facilitated by individuals in recovery who have personally experienced different issues. The attendees are given the opportunity to discuss their experiences, and are given a safe place to talk about their thoughts, emotions, and feelings. The support group meetings also offer educational information that is available at no cost.

Advocacy Program

The program benefits the whole community by providing information about emergency shelters, rehab centers, detox centers, recovery homes, low-income housing, referrals to appropriate agencies, networking with law enforcement agencies, and restraining orders.

A Touch of Kindness  is the nation's only consumer-run organization dedicated to helping individuals battling with suicidal behaviors. We work with mental health agencies, community health centers, doctors, and emergency physicians who see many patients who have attempted suicide, and may continue to make attempts until they get help or die. Many suicides might be prevented if everyone learns to recognize the warning signs and know how to access help, such as that offered by A Touch of Kindness. If you or someone you know suffers from a chronic illness, depression, mental illness, or has ongoing thoughts of death or suicide, we urge you to contact A Touch of Kindness at support@heart-intl.org    The Mentoring Program works to pair clients and mentors with similar experiences. Mentors will offer their experience and hope. They are simply there to share with clients workable solutions to their problems, while remaining compassionate, understanding and objective in a loving manner. We want to protect the client, but we also want to protect the mentors. So we give them the skills and support they need as well. Our Mission: Our mission is to promote wellness, empowerment, and support to save lives and reduce suicidal behaviors by education, training, mentoring, and linking people with a variety of resources. Our Goal: Our goal is to make people aware that there are organizations who want to help, to make suicide prevention & awareness something that needs to be discussed, not kept quiet, to reduce hospitalizations, the use of emergency services, and to save lives. This is the main chapter of AlifeF. We have several experienced mentors, but we are always in need of many more. For more detailed information please visit the official site of A Touch of Kindness

Our corporate office is locate in Florence, Colorado. A Touch of Kindness became a national organization in 2007.