American Foundation for Suicide Prevention’s annual Advocacy Day showcases personal stories of suicide and mental health and pushes for sustainable crisis care solutions
JUNEAU, AK – This week, a group of advocates including a number of high school students and recent graduates from Toksook Bay traveled to Juneau to join the Alaska chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) for its annual Advocacy in Action Day at the Capitol. Elected officials, including Reps. Genevieve Mina and Nellie Unanjiq Jimmie and Sen. Scott Kawasaki, joined students today at a press conference on the Capitol steps to advocate for legislation (HB 138 / SB 196) to establish sustainable funding for Alaska’s 988 crisis response system so that people experiencing mental health emergencies can get the life-saving support they need.
A small 98 cent fee on monthly phone bills would create a sustainable funding stream for 988 crisis services based on the Crisis Now Model. This model is based on the premise that in a mental health emergency, a person needs someone to call, someone to respond, and a safe place for help. This means a strong crisis response system includes the 988 Suicide and Crisis hotline, mobile crisis teams to meet Alaskans when and where they need help, and crisis receiving and stabilization facilities, home-like alternatives to hospitals, emergency departments, and out-of-state residential facilities.
“As someone who has personally experienced the loss of suicide, I know the pain these tragedies leave behind. I also know that prevention works when we invest in it,” said Jim Biela, Vice Chair of AFSP’s National Public Policy Council. “The message I hope policymakers hear today is simple: suicide prevention is not just about responding to crises—it is about building systems of support so strong that fewer people ever reach that crisis in the first place.”
Alaska has one of the most severe mental health crises in the country, with the highest rates of adult and youth suicide. These young advocates traveled over 600 miles from Nelson Island School in Toksook Bay to share personal stories of how suicide and mental health have affected their lives and communities, and call for a stronger investment in the state’s crisis response system.
“I never want another child to feel the kind of loneliness, despair, and darkness that leads them to believe their life does not matter. I never want another student to feel so unseen, so unheard, and so overwhelmed that they believe there is no other way forward,” said Jennifer Sahaba, the Site Administrator for Nelson Island School, whose school lost a 13-year-old student to suicide last year. “Our children deserve more than that. They deserve to feel safe. They deserve to feel loved. They deserve to know that their lives are valuable and that their futures hold meaning and possibility. For as long as I serve these students and this community, I will carry that responsibility in my heart.”
“These young advocates are showing us the future of mental health care, and I’m proud to stand alongside them,” said Sen. Scott Kawasaki. “This is our responsibility to take care of each other here in Alaska. A small investment—less than a dollar a month—will help build a crisis response system that works, which is especially important as federal funds are cut back. It gives us local control over local solutions.”
“Establishing sustainable funding for 988 crisis services is the right thing to do and it’s the smart thing to do,” said Rep. Genevieve Mina. “First, it helps ensure that when any Alaskan needs support during a mental health emergency, they get it. Second, it means lower costs for our state with fewer people ending up in emergency departments, jails, and unemployment offices.”
“In a lot of Alaska, mental health care just doesn’t exist. 988 gave people a simple way to ask for help from anywhere, which was a good start,” said Rep. Nellie Unangiq Jimmie. “Next, HB 138 will make sure no brave person who calls 988 is ever left hanging on the line, listening to their phone ring and ring and ring.”
“With families, educators, advocates and lawmakers aligned, the message is clear: Alaska is ready to act,” said Nicole Bick, State Campaign Lead at Inseparable, a leading mental health advocacy organization. “By investing in a stronger, more sustainable crisis response system, the state can shift from reacting to tragedy to preventing it—and ensure that every Alaskan, from Anchorage to the Mat-Su Valley, from coastal communities to rural villages, can access timely, compassionate care.”
For more information on suicide prevention efforts and crisis response in Alaska, please visit afsp.org/facts/alaska.
About Inseparable
Inseparable is a national mental health advocacy organization founded on the principle that mental health is inseparable from physical health. Inseparable drives transformative change at the federal and state levels by engaging bipartisan policymakers, mobilizing support, and advancing mental health and substance use disorder policies that help people thrive. Inseparable works to expand access to care, promote youth mental health, improve crisis response, and strengthen the mental health workforce.