Finding the Light Within

The rate of suicide attempts among public high school students in Philadelphia is almost twice the national average – 12.9 percent versus 6.9 percent, respectively. Particularly troubling is the rate of suicide attempts among African American youth (12.1 percent) which is up to twice that of comparable cities, such as New York (6.5 percent), Baltimore (7.8 percent) or Detroit (9.9 percent), according to a 2009 study by Temple University’s College of Health Professions and Social Work.

Mural Arts Philadelphia partnered with the City of Philadelphia Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual disAbility Services, and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention to combat this tragic social phenomenon.

Finding the Light Within sheds a light on youth suicide by providing a voice for survivors, attempters, and their families and friends by creating a new community around this issue. The goal of this project is to educate the public about warning signs of suicidal behavior and how to seek help for loved ones before there is a loss of life.

To create the foundation for the mural project, a series of community meetings and two distinct workshop series engaged a broad range of participants. Poet/artist Theodore Harris and psychologist Dr. Terri Erbacher facilitated writing and collage-making workshops at Horizon House (a community resource for adults with psychiatric or developmental disabilities, drug and alcohol addictions, and/or homelessness), which helped start a dialogue amongst participating survivors and attempters of suicide.

Additionally, storytelling workshops for people whose lives have been changed by suicide were directed by Dr. Molly Layton, a writer and psychotherapist who works with First Person Arts.

Through Finding the Light Within a new and diverse community has been created to share awareness and resources for intervention around the issue of suicide in Philadelphia.