BENTON HARBOR – On Tuesday, Nov. 14, at the monthly meeting for the Berrien County Suicide Prevention Coalition, representatives from Gryphon Place of Kalamazoo will give a presentation.

The public is invited to the presentation scheduled for noon to 1 p.m., Tuesday, Nov. 14, in the Berrien Conference Room at the Health Department, 2149 E. Napier Ave., Benton Harbor. Those interested in suicide prevention and others such as counselors, law enforcement, and that may use or distribute the crisis line phone number (1-800-273-8255) are encouraged to attend.

Gryphon Place houses the regional call center for the crisis line. In 2015, there were 456 calls from Berrien County to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (1-800-273-8255 or 1-800-273-TALK).

The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is an important resource for suicide prevention. As a national network of local crisis centers it provides free and confidential emotional support to people in suicidal crisis or emotional distress 24 hours a day, seven days a week. By offering immediate counseling to everyone that may need it, local crisis centers provide invaluable support at critical times and connect individuals to local services.

The November presentation will address how calls to the crisis line are handled, how workers are trained, and what other resources Gryphon Place offers.

Vershurn Ford, volunteer and outreach coordinator, will give an overview of Gryphon Services, while Tanequa Hampton, suicide prevention program manager, will give an overview of the suicide prevention programs specifically.

The Berrien County Suicide Prevention Coalition is an advisory committee of Berrien Mental Health Authority (Riverwood Center). For more information, contact Trent Watford at (269) 428-7226 for questions about the presentation. For more information on the Coalition, visit BerrienCares.org.