Your ELi: Bringing Information About Mental Health Resources to the Community

Two student deaths at East Lansing High School in the course of a month have saddened many in the community. At ELi, we feel the impact not only as East Lansing residents but as parents; my son only recently left our public schools and Publisher Alice Dreger’s son is still a student at ELHS. One of our reporters, Danny Kaplowitz, is himself a student at ELHS, and our board Vice President, Vic Loomis, is a graduate of ELHS and has children at the school. I could go on and on with this list.

As an organization focused first and foremost on community service, ELi’s early reporting on the two deaths asked readers to contact us about resources available both to help prevent suicides and to provide support to the many young people grieving those lost. I have been overwhelmed by the response and by the will of East Lansing citizens to work together to help the youth that, in some ways, belong to all of us. I’ve received information from individual parents, mental health professionals, a County Commissioner, and concerned citizens.

We want to provide a central place for the information submitted to us about suicide prevention, support for teens in crisis, and grief counseling. My plan as ELi’s Managing Editor is to publish a series of short articles outlining different resources, the services they offer, and (perhaps most important) how to access help. Local freelance writer and ELHS parent Ann Kammerer has volunteered her time to write several of these articles, and ELi reporter Coleen Moyerbrailean (whose children graduated from ELPS) will contribute as well.

We will make sure that the information is collected in one place, and hope that it will be useful to parents, students, and any adult who works with young people. Please continue to submit resources and ideas to me at editor_ann@eastlansinginfo.org and share this contact information with anyone you know who might benefit. Our goal is to provide a reliable, easily accessible, one-stop roundup of ways to get help that is available to everyone – especially to the younger members of the community who may not be comfortable asking a parent or teacher about their concerns.

Thanks to all who have reached out and worked with us to make this project possible.