Non-profit aims to eliminate young adult suicides

RAPID CITY, S.D. (KEVN) - According to the South Dakota Department of Health, South Dakota has the seventh highest suicide rate in the nation with a record 202 deaths in 2021. The Lost and Found organization wants to cut down this number.

Lost&Found is a South Dakota-based non-profit with a focus of eliminating suicide among young adults in the United States. It was founded by a group of five college students from Mitchell, who saw suicide becoming a greater cause of death among young adults. Founder and CEO Erik Muckey says he and his friends saw that resources were needed for their fellow students, and no one was doing anything about it.

“As a group of students, we wanted to do more to prevent suicide on college campuses. And through that effort over many years, more students got involved. More student organizations were formed but in the past five years especially with the pandemic taking full hilt, students were no longer on campus and needed other resources,” Muckey said.

Today’s college students have to navigate unprecedented times, mostly due to losing college years to the COVID-19 pandemic, on top of having to navigate college life by themselves. For SDSU nursing student Elizabeth Carlisle, having Lost&Found as a resource has made her college experience less isolating.

“Knowing that you’re not alone in how you feel and feeling very supported and that it’s a very universal feeling because I feel like it’s isolating going into these new experiences. So just having someone to talk you through it and guide you is very important,” Carlisle said.

For employees at Lost & Found, helping others is their biggest goal. With programs such as digital mental health resources and peer-to-peer mentorship, senior prevention specialist Corey Kennedy believes the Lost&Found organization in cooperation with the Black Hills community is great at helping others in need.

“It’s tough to watch kids struggle. It’s tough to watch students struggle. It’s hard to watch adults struggle, right? And if it’s something that you can do to help support them, and we really have a very enriching community for helping and supporting people. But we just have a huge need in this area,” Kennedy said.

For anyone struggling with their mental health or want to find out more about the services Lost&Found provides click here.

Copyright 2024 KEVN. All rights reserved.