Suicide prevention resource center opens in Irwin

A resource center has opened in Irwin to provide support and suicide prevention information to those in emotional distress who may be contemplating suicide or have been impacted by it.

Come, Talk Inc., a nonprofit resource center inside the Norwin Chamber of Commerce offices at 321 Main St., is “for people who have attempted suicide or have considered suicide and it is also for people who have lost loves to suicide or who have loved ones who attempted (suicide),” said founder Amanda Morrison of Irwin.

“They can come here and we can talk about their experiences” without worry of being judged, Morrison said.

The resource center, which opened July 13, has literature and contact information for crisis hotlines and centers, and information on local licensed mental health professionals, said Morrison, who has a degree in psychology from Seton Hill University in Greensburg. She is not operating a counseling center and is not certified to counsel others.

“I want to help people. I want them to know they are not alone, that someone really does care about them,” Morrison said.

Morrison’s interest in helping those impacted by suicide stems from her experience with friends and relatives who either committed suicide or attempted to end their lives.

A relative with whom she spent several weeks in the spring and summer of 2020 had attempted suicide.

“She talked to me a lot” about her attempted suicide and her feelings that the treatment she received, aimed at finding a diagnosis for her illness, was not effective, Morrison said.

“She just wanted someone to listen” to her, Morrison said.

Her relative, who died of cancer in December, had a son in his late 20s who died of suicide last year, Morrison said.

A high school friend who died of suicide around New Year’s is in her thoughts every Jan. 1, Morrison said.

She received some guidance from Ray of Hope in South Greensburg, which offers a variety of suicide prevention services and programs. It is part of Westmoreland County’s Suicide Awareness and Prevention Task Force.

A spokesperson for Ray of Hope could not be reached for comment.

Morrison, who had operated two businesses in Irwin, started thinking about opening such a resource center in October, in the midst of the covid-related restrictions.

“I kept reading about the mental health problems associated with the pandemic. I just thought suicide prevention was something I should do,” Morrison said.

She quit a job last year as an office manager and focused on starting the center. She hopes to expand and create free support groups with speakers as well.

For now, Morrison is accepting donations to the nonprofit and hopes to open a small retail shop selling issue-related books and journals within the confines of the former conference room that Come, Talk occupies inside the chamber offices. She wants to sell coffee from Sip of Hope Community Coffee roasters, a Chicago-based organization that allocates all of the proceeds to support proactive suicide prevention and mental health education programming.

Morrison said she also plans to seek funding from sponsors and foundations and will use the charity status of the Irwin Project to assist in those efforts.

By reaching out to those who have been impacted by suicide, “I want them to heal from whatever they have been going through,” Morrison said.