It’s OK to Ask for Help

photo by Léo Azambuja

By Léo Azambuja

Several advocates for suicide prevention took time off from their schedules and held signs in Kaunakakai last week, spreading messages of love and courage, and letting people know that even in the darkest hours, there is hope. Always.

“It’s never too late to call 988,” said Uʻilani Kiaha, Molokai representative for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. “It’s a number that people can call or text, and you can even go online and put this in, and you can chat with somebody.”

More than a dozen residents, including Kiaha, held signs of support in front of the Molokai Public Library Wednesday from 4 to 5:30 p.m. The date was World Suicide Prevention Day, observed every Sept. 10 to raise awareness around the globe that suicide can be prevented.

The sign-waving was a partnership between community members, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, and Maui Economic Opportunity. 

The messages of hope and aloha had sayings such as, We Love You, Your Live Matters, Keep Going, It Gets Better, It Takes Strength to Ask for Help, and Call 988 among many others.

As a crisis worker, Kiaha is part of a small outreach team on Molokai that is activated when the 988 dispatch needs them. By calling 988, she said, you can have access to mental health, suicide support, substance use support, housing and other social services.

“They actually cover a wide range of services for crisis, but especially for those who have thoughts of suicide, or families who have loved ones who have thoughts of suicide,” Kiaha said.

MEO youth coordinator Zantha-Angelica “Mela” Tancayo recruited a few kids from the Youth Services’ Kāohi program, which offers an array of free community and cultural programs to kids, with the intention of addressing bullying, substance abuse and suicide prevention.

Barbara Helm, bereavement coordinator at Hospice Maui, Molokai, was also there. 

“If you have lost someone to suicide, Auntie Barbara actually hosts as group that supports people with lost loved ones,” Kiaha said, adding Helm usually joins as a resource in suicide prevention events, including as a guest speaker at the International Survivors of Suicide Loss held in November 2024.

Sometimes, Kiaha said, people don’t feel like there is hope; they might feel like they are in the darkness, but it is OK and courageous to ask for help. 

On Sept. 20, the foundation is organizing the Out of the Darkness Walk, an event held annually in more than 400 communities nationwide to raise awareness and funds, “strongly sending the message that suicide can be prevented, and that no one is alone,” according to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention website.

Molokai’s Out of the Darkness Walk starts at the Molokai Canoe Club at 4 p.m. and will last until sunset. This will be the fourth time Molokai holds the event, but it will be an “unofficial walk,” Kiaha said, because they are not doing any fundraising.

“Our event is specifically to get the resources out there and to hold space for those who struggle, for those who have lost someone to suicide, and then just also to provide hope and light for those that attend,” she said. 

Participants will walk Kaunakakai Wharf holding signs, bringing awareness for available resources. There will be resource booths, but not all are necessarily about providing therapy, Kiaha said. 

“It also could be activities and good things to do on our island,” she said, adding one of the curriculums at Tancayo’s youth program talks about sources of strength, which will be highlighted at the event.

Kiaha said Tancayo also teaches support tools for adults to help others, but “it doesn’t necessarily have to be surrounded around the topic of suicide, it can be to provide opportunities and services or activities that are around that help them to feel connected in another way, so that they don’t feel like they have a last resort.”

If you are concerned that you or someone you know might be experiencing depression or suicidal thoughts, there are things you can do to help, including calling or sharing the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, according to The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

The foundation suggests learning signs of someone who may be at risk, such as changes in behavior and mood swings; reaching out to someone who may be struggling, and ask directly if they have suicide thoughts; and connecting those struggling with resources. 

Visit www.afsp.org for additional information.