About the Collaborative
What is the Collaborative…
The La Plata County Suicide Prevention Collaborative (or LPC SPC) is a coalition of community members working to reduce suicide attempts and deaths in La Plata County.
LPC SPC focuses on upstream prevention and community impact work such as de-stigmatizing mental illness, building social connections, and helping community members learn to have honest conversations about mental health and suicide.
What We Are Not…
LPC SPC is not a crisis line and does not offer any crisis or behavioral health services. The primary goal of LPC SPC is to prevent individuals from reaching the point of crisis by collectively strengthening the community and its members.
If you or someone you love does need crisis support, please call:
Axis Health Care Hotline: (970)-247-5245
Colorado Crisis and Support Line: 1-844-493-8255
National Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: 988
Mission Statement
The La Plata County Suicide Prevention Collaborative empowers the community to access resources to address trauma and prevent suicide using data-driven strategies and cross-sector participation that is equitable, accessible, and relevant to the communities emerging needs.
Our Vision
All individuals in La Plata County feel supported in every area of their lives (school, family, community, faith) and thrive across each dimension of their well-being (social, emotional, mental, behavioral, physical, financial, environmental, and spiritual).
Equity & Inclusion
The La Plata County Suicide Prevention Collaborative strives to include the whole community in increasing equity through resilience-building opportunities that are meaningful and culturally relevant to each individual. We also develop and implement strategies that transform systems to eliminate barriers and allow all people to achieve their full potential.
The Collaborative’s History
In 2016-2017, La Plata County lost 31 people to suicide, two being youths. The community came together to express collective grief and develop a plan to better address and prevent suicide, and thus the Suicide Prevention Collaborative formed.
The Collaborative has taken on many shapes and forms since 2017; members have come and gone, and so have campaigns, events, and programs. Over the years, the collaborative has evolved into a smaller, more structured group of organizations and community members, but the passion and commitment to reducing suicide rates has never diminished.
You do not need to be an expert on suicide OR prevention to be a part of this work— you just need to be you. As with all community-led efforts, the collaborative is most effective when there is strong representation from diverse cultures, backgrounds, occupations and interests. Your ideas are important. Share them!
Suicide prevention is everyone’s responsibility, but no one can make big, sustainable change alone.
Join us! If you want to get involved but feel overwhelmed or don’t know where to begin – come say hello at our next monthly meeting or shoot us an email.
Statistics on Local Suicide Information
Suicide Counts and Rates in La Plata County
Data is from CDPHE - click here to visit their interactive data dashboard