Survivors of Suicide Loss
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
The mission of Survivors of Suicide Loss (SOSL) is to support survivors of suicide loss and to educate the community about suicide and the prevention of suicide. For every person that dies by suicide, at least 6 people left behind (spouses, children, siblings, parents, colleagues, and friends) are deeply impacted. This community of survivors of suicide loss grows by 2,500 every year in San Diego. SOSL exists to provide immediate and long-term support to help community members heal from this traumatic loss, which is critical for the health and well-being of the survivor. Research has demonstrated that the suicide death of a loved one increases the risk of suicide for those left behind. Therefore, SOSL emphasizes the importance of “post-vention” activities for these individuals. The goal of postvention is reducing the risk of suicide and fostering healing and growth for the survivor. There is a growing awareness that effective postvention services services are an integral component.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Suicide Survivors Support Groups
Monthly support groups for survivors of suicide loss at 10 locations in San Diego County reaching over 300 people a month.
Additionally - twice a year we hold an 8 week closed curriculum for long term survivors
Suicide Awareness and Prevention
SOSL provides suicide awareness and prevention presentations throughout San Diego and South Riverside County. The SOSL Speakers Bureau is on target to present over 100 times in 2018.
Where we work
External reviews
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Survivors of Suicide Loss strives to offer support services to survivors of suicide loss in San Diego County and beyond. Through our new Zoom online programs, we are capable of reaching people throughout the US and even abroad. As we move forward, our goals are to continue to offer these online support programs, a continuing education course for mental health professionals, and expand our resources for long-term survivor support.
SOSL plans on expanding our education programs by offering a Suicide Prevention Course which offers Continuing Education Units for mental health professionals. The State of California (AB-1436) established a new requirement that all licensed mental health professionals complete six units of an approved suicide prevention course.
The goal of the program is to provide mental health professionals with the information they need to help those struggling with suicide, as well as facilitate the healing of those left behind after a suicide. Unfortunately, many mental health professionals are not effectively equipped to deal with suicide. What will make this presentation unique is that the topic of suicide will be discussed from the three main components of an effective suicide prevention program. Often the topic of postvention is not addressed. Effective postvention has been proven to be one of the most effective ways to prevent future suicides. A panel of survivors will be included in the course to give the mental health professionals first-hand accounts of living with someone who is suicidal and healing in the aftermath. This comprehensive approach will provide the mental health professionals with practical and useful information to meet the needs of their clients who have been impacted by suicide in any way.
This new education program will strengthen collaboration with the mental health community and expand the outreach and impact of SOSL. The outcome will be to equip mental health professionals to help those struggling with suicide and support those left behind after a suicide – ultimately saving lives!
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
SOSL will provide support to new survivors quickly and facilitate connection with support services. Our support line, social media and online support groups will provide phone, email and personal meetings with survivors. We will continue to distribute resource packets and organizational information, connecting new survivors with support groups quickly. SOSL will offer a minimum of three online support groups per week for ongoing support, including bilingual and veteran groups.
SOSL will work to train mental health professionals about all aspects of suicide prevention – to save lives. SOSL will offer at least two continuing education level suicide prevention courses for mental health professionals. These programs will help train at least 100 mental health professionals at CEU level.
In 2020, SOSL received funding from UMC to SOSL to create a comprehensive long-term survivor support program that includes our 8-week closed group, topical workshops, and other services that target those beyond the initial stages of suicide grief. This long-term program meets a current unmet need for the survivors of suicide loss community. In addition, it will increase the sustainability of the SOSL organization and expand our suicide awareness and prevention outreach.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
SOSL has over 30 volunteer facilitators that run our weekly support groups. The support groups are offered free and weekly for our SOSL community. The information for these support groups is distributed via our SOSL website, social media and a weekly email. We will continue to advertise the availability of these groups to our donors, sponsors and at our public events.
SOSL is partnering with Aurora Behavioral Hospital (confirmed) and UCSD (pending). Both organizations are licensed to provide CEU’s – to present a six-unit course - Understanding the Clinical Implications of Suicide: Prevention, Intervention, & Postvention. The material will be presented by two SOSL Board members – Dr. Blaire Ehret and Kim Bozart, Joyce Bruggeman Director of Education for SOSL and Dr. Susan Writer.
The long-term survivor program adds another level of support to SOSL’s current services. SOSL is currently writing a workbook for the Grief to Growth – Flourishing after a Suicide Loss Program based on this research and applications. These workbooks will be for participants, facilitators and mental health providers. The goal is to help survivors experience four factors of PTG: meaning and appreciation for life, relating to others, harnessing personal strengths, generating new possibilities and rebuilding a flourishing life.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
We have successfully been offering at least three online support groups each week. These groups are offered in the evenings as well as unique, daily meetings. These daily meetings have allowed us to expand our reach to those survivors who are local but cannot make evening meetings or are in other time zones looking for convenient meeting opportunities.
SOSL has already held two scheduled continuing education courses for mental health professionals. There are three more meetings scheduled for 2021 and we hope these will continue to expand in the future. The CEU courses are two-part courses offered on back-to-back weekends. They run between 3-4 hours each session.
The long-term survivor program is being built and written but there is still a lot to build upon.
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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Survivors of Suicide Loss
Board of directorsas of 02/22/2022
Kim Bozart
PERT - Psychiatric Emergency Response Team
Term: 2018 -
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Not applicable -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Not applicable
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
No data
Gender identity
No data
Transgender Identity
No data
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data