In 2002, Judd Shapiro attempted suicide. Now he looks at what he’s achieved since then including starting a nonprofit called Pride Lives to get resources to help those considering suicide.
“Life has changed for me so drastically in ways that I never thought were even possible,” Shapiro said. “If I had succeeded and ended my life then, I wouldn’t have experienced so many things.”
Shapiro moved to Seattle in 2014. When he got here, he heard about people in the LGBTQ community as well as in other cities who had recently committed suicide.
He noticed when that happened, the community would remember the person with a memorial or moment of silence at a bar, but then would go back to their lives.
In forming Pride Lives, which officially became a nonprofit a few weeks ago, Shapiro wants to tell people there is help and that they should seek it, and he wants to help erase the stigma attached to suicide.
“We should be more willing to talk about it before we lose someone rather than doing everything after the fact. After the fact is nothing,” Shapiro said.
Pride Lives started with a walk in 2015. Twenty five people joined Shapiro to distribute postcards and posters to 22 businesses on Capitol Hill in November. The handouts included contact information for The Trevor Project, the King County Crisis Clinic and the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.
After a rainy, but successful first-ever Pride Lives walk last year, Shapiro learned not to hold the event during the winter months. He laughed remembering how wet and exhausted everyone was.
This year, the walk will start at 2 PM on September 17th at the Cuff Complex and the walkers will drop off flyers at the 22 original businesses and 17 new ones. You can RSVP here.
http://www.capitolhillseattle.com/event/pride-lives-2016/
Shapiro contacted potential businesses before the walk to find out which ones were interested in supporting the cause. He seeks out a variety of businesses including bars, coffee shops and stores. While the organization may be LGBTQ-focused, it’s not exclusive.
“Really everyone needs it, so we wanted to make it accessible everywhere in every type of business,” Shapiro said.
“Anyone can just show up,” Shapiro said. “Maybe we’ve never heard from you before, but if you’re there to help us prevent suicide, to spread awareness, to end the stigma that comes with suicide and depression, then you can walk with us. You can be a part of what we’re doing.”
He plans to continuously refresh the 39 businesses materials as needed throughout the year.
Now that Pride Lives is a nonprofit and has a board of directors, Shapiro plans to hold at least one fundraiser in 2017 and would also like to host a training about what to do if a friend is thinking about suicide.
