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Ohio suicide prevention advocates brace for the potential of fewer funds

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Suicide is a public health crisis. If you or anyone you know is in crisis, the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline can be reached by calling or texting 988. More information on suicide prevention can be found here.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (Statehouse News Bureau) — After Donna Heck’s daughter Dani, then 33, died by suicide more than five years ago after a lifelong battle with her mental health, Heck said she started carrying Dani’s obituary with her wherever she went.

Donna and Jeff Heck at a suicide prevention press conference, with a photo of their daughter
Donna and Jeff Heck at a suicide prevention press conference, with a photo of their daughter, in September 2024. [Sarah Donaldson | Statehouse News Bureau]
“We are part of the club that nobody wanted to be part of, the club that lost someone that we love and treasure to suicide,” Heck said. “Suicide does not care about your gender, your race, your political or religious beliefs or your socioeconomic status.”

Ohio Department of Health data from 2022 showed the state lost about five Ohioans to suicide every single day. The state’s suicide rate rose from 2020 to 2022, with men accounting for 80% of all state suicide deaths.

Men 75 and older died by suicide at the highest rate, according to the data. Sandy Williams knows the statistic well. A framed photo of her beaming father, Jerry, sat next to her on a Statehouse podium as she delivered remarks Tuesday morning.

“It’s not seen as a tragedy, the way it’s seen when an 18-year-old dies,” Williams said. “I am here to tell you that it is a tragedy. Even at 53, I still needed my dad, and he should still be here today.”

Williams, the Hecks and other current and former members of the Ohio Suicide Prevention Foundation used Tuesday—which marked World Suicide Day—to advocate against an issue they argue doesn’t discriminate.

Under Gov. Mike DeWine’s administration, advocates have largely lauded increased appropriations to mental health resources. But the foundation’s call for action came with concerns that those resources will get fewer funds the next budget cycle

“This next budget is going to be rough and we’re going to be really active in making sure that our community mental health centers, that our hospitals, that folks who are doing the work out there really do get the resources they need,” said Tony Coder, the Ohio Suicide Prevention Foundation executive director.

He’s watching economic trends now, he said, months ahead of the next budget cycle—which will start in early 2025. Coronavirus relief money ran dry already.

“Usually, social services are the first thing to get cut,” Coder said in an interview after.

Coder wants to see the state fund mental health rehabilitation facilities in communities and secure a permanent funding source for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, or 988, among his other priorities.