Samaritans CEO and President shared important connections between financial stress and suicide risk with state commission.
On June 11, 2024, Samaritans President and CEO Kathleen C. Marchi spoke at a hearing on Poverty in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The hearing at Cambridge City Hall was held by the legislature-backed Commission on Poverty in Massachusetts, which is tasked with finding ways to promote opportunity, address inequality, and reduce poverty in Massachusetts. The commission, chaired by State Senator Sal DiDomenico and Representative Marjorie Decker, will make recommendations that aim to reduce poverty over the next decade.
During the hearing, Kathy discussed ways that poverty, mental health, and suicide risk are deeply intertwined, stressing the need to include a mental health perspective when tackling poverty. Read her testimony:
Thank you to the Chairs and Commission members for this opportunity.
My name is Kathy Marchi, and I am the Chief Executive Officer of Samaritans, the oldest suicide prevention organization in Massachusetts.
We have been offering free, confidential services to residents across the Commonwealth for 50 years. We offer crisis services, suicide grief support, and education to spread mental health awareness.
Last year, we responded to nearly 100,000 calls and texts to our crisis helplines – about 270 per day. We have responded to more than 5,000 texts to Hey Sam, our youth peer-to-peer textline, since it launched 2 years ago. The need for mental health crisis services is immense.
I’m here today because mental health and poverty are deeply linked. Financial hardship can be both a cause and result of mental health issues, and according to the CDC and NIH, those living in poverty are more likely to die by suicide.
Individuals in poverty face stressors like lack of access to healthcare, poor living conditions, and social exclusion, which can severely impact mental health. People experiencing financial stress or unemployment are up to 20 times more likely to attempt suicide than those with stable finances.
Samaritans is here to ensure that when someone feels overwhelmed or like they can’t go on, they can get help immediately and without cost.
Poverty impacts the mental health of young people as well. Counties with higher poverty levels have higher suicide rates among children and teens. In 2015, nearly 1 in 3 homeless students in Massachusetts reported attempting suicide.
Samaritans is here to ensure that when someone feels overwhelmed or like they can’t go on, they can get help immediately and without cost. Offering free mental health services to those in crisis is a necessity that saves lives.
We need to make sure people know these services exist and help make them feel comfortable accessing them. We’ve seen a powerful impact by working with community leaders to shape our services and adapt to cultural needs. Our partnership with Follow Suit, a mentoring program based in Roxbury, has allowed us to share lifesaving resources with young men of color.
Meeting people where they are is also essential to spreading awareness. In the last six months, we have collaborated with Rosie’s Place, Pine Street Inn, and Bridge over Troubled Water to distribute 100 basic needs kits to people experiencing homelessness. These kits included essential self-care items in addition to information about Samaritans crisis resources, enabling us to share lifesaving information in a compassionate, caring way. These partnerships and initiatives build trust and connect us with those we serve, making them more likely to use our programs.
By ensuring free access to mental health care, whether at the crisis helpline level or in more robust ways, we can support people through their struggles and help build a healthier, more resilient, and inclusive society.
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