About Community for Hope

Mission Statement

We are community members united for the purpose of promoting and supporting mental wellness and building awareness about suicide prevention, intervention and response, as well as grief support for surviving family members and friends.

Community for Hope Meetings (2012)

Community for Hope holds a monthly general board meeting open to the public and our community partners, from 8:00-9:00 am, on the second Tuesday of every month, in the main-level conference room at our office: Hooper Community Center, 36 Broad Street, Oshkosh. (No daytime meeting in November. Open House, 6:30-8:00pm, is in place of the monthly meeting.)

Anyone interested in working on suicide prevention initiatives in our community is welcome to join us.

Activities

Education:

Sponsoring YELLOW RIBBON, a program that teaches students that "it's okay to ask for help" and trains teachers, administrators, counselors, and support staff how to respond to children in crisis.

Supporting the state DPI's Signs of Suicide prevention and intervention ACT (Acknowledge, Care, Tell) program for students, teachers, and staff.

Creating and providing age appropriate school folders for students in grades 1 - 12 to help them understand the warning signs of suicide and to know what to do in order to seek help.

Creating a Mental Health Resource Guide of agencies that can provide support to suicidal individuals.

Supporting and providing speakers on Suicide Prevention by raising awareness of such events and encouraging community-wide attendance.

Providing community-based suicide prevention training using the nationally known method, QPR (Question, Persuade, Refer).

If you're interested in getting trained in QPR, contact Doug Bisbee, Executive Director.

Communication

Collaborating with school administrators, teachers, counselors and social workers to support suicide prevention, intervention and response efforts in the school system.

Support

Sponsoring and facilitating three chapters of S.O.S. (Survivors of Suicide), which is a support group of and for family, friends, classmates and colleagues of those who have died by suicide.  The chapters are active in Oshkosh, Appleton and Ripon, with a teen group also meeting in Appleton.

Members

Over 35 community members, including school administrators, therapists, religious leaders and concerned parents, are currently active in Community for Hope.

Board Members:

Executive Director: Doug Bisbee

Doug (MDiv, MAC), was an ELCA pastor for over 20 years.  He has training and experience in family systems counseling as well as loss and grief counseling. Presently, Doug is a counselor at Samaritan Counseling Center of the Fox Valley, which has offices in Menasha, Oshkosh, and New London. He is also a counselor at UW Fox Valley's Counseling Services. His training and certification include: Suicide Risk Assessment, Non-violent Crisis Intervention, CIP (Crisis Intervention Partner), Trauma-Informed Care, QPR (Question, Persuade, Refer) Suicide Gatekeeper Trainer, and School-Based Suicide Prevention (Department of Public Instruction).

President: Kevin Mundell

Vice President: Don Merz

Treasurer: Patti Ahrens

Secretaries: Linda Schabloski & Jenny Wesner

Non-Profit Status

Community for Hope is an IRS-recognized 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. All contributions are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.