Suicide is at its highest level in decades
Depressed person on bed might be subject of new report from the CDC. Shutterstock
There is a new board chair at the nonprofit Safe Horizon. Mike Slocum, the northeast regional president at Capital One, will replace Steve Parrish, who will remain on the board he has chaired for the past decade.
The nonprofit also has a new senior vice president of marketing and communications. Erin White will replace Brian Pacheco, who will leave on Dec. 3 for a similar position at the New York Legal Assistance Group. “I am honored to utilize my marketing communications expertise to further bolster NYLAG’s profile and uplift their life-saving work,” Pacheco said in an email. “They provide free civil legal services to so many vulnerable people who otherwise couldn’t afford a lawyer – that’s life-changing!”
SCO Family Of Services has won a $187,500 contract from the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. The money will fund a mental health initiative for court-involved youth, according to the City Record. The Department of Homeless Services is in the market for voice response systems for use citywide. A non-mandatory pre-bid conference is scheduled for 11 a.m. on Dec. 11 on the 37th floor of 150 Greenwich St. More information is available here.
The governor’s office announced who will create 2,700 units of affordable housing. The $578 million Vital Brooklyn initiative aims to help chronically homeless families, youth aging out of foster care, seniors and the developmentally disabled, according to a Nov. 29 press release. The four winners of the first round of bids for the initiative are: CAMBA, Services for the UnderServed, Federation of Organizations, and the Foundling Group. The organizations will develop the housing through partnerships with real estate developers who shared in the win.
New York State Homes and Community Renewal has a new Request for Proposals for seven more Vital Brooklyn sites to create 4,000 units of affordable housing.
“Expanding access to affordable housing is a critical component of the Vital Brooklyn initiative to reverse the chronic social, economic, and health disparities in Central Brooklyn,” Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in a press release. “With the addition of thousands of new homes, we are helping to ensure that our neighbors have high-quality places to live and continuing our efforts to build a brighter future for Central Brooklyn.”
The suicide rate is the highest it’s been in decades. A new report from the Centers for Disease Control finds that the rate increased 33 percent from 1999 to 2017, to 14 per 100,000 people. About 47,000 people died from suicide last year, including the high-profile deaths of fashion designer Kate Spade, singer Chris Cornell, and chef Anthony Bourdain. Overall, suicide has become the tenth most common cause of death across all ages, and, since 2016, the second highest for people ages 10-34. Read the full report below:
An earlier version of this story misspelled Erin White's name.