Funding Awarded for Youth-Led Suicide Prevention Projects

County: Butler

Organization: AXIS Teen Centers DBA EDGE Teen Services

Award Amount: $500

Summary: Partnering with 1N5 and Focus on Youth, EDGE equips peer leaders to plan and lead campaigns that encourage help-seeking, connection, and positive coping strategies. With funding from OSPF, up to 30 youth leaders will be trained and supported to implement monthly wellness campaigns at both EDGE sites in the 2025–26 school year. The program aims to ensure all participating teens feel supported, identify safe adults, and gain the skills and confidence to manage life’s challenges.

County: Butler

Organization: Envision Partnerships

Award Amount: $3,000

Summary: Agents of Change is a youth-led council in Butler County made up of high school students committed to transforming their communities through advocacy, education, and prevention. With support from OSPF, Agents of Change will host two additional Youth Town Halls in Hamilton and Fairfield, providing a platform for youth to educate and engage local leaders on improving mental health resources and prevention efforts. These events will combine education, data sharing, and storytelling to reduce stigma and encourage schools and policymakers to take meaningful action.

County: Clark

Organization: Mental Health Recovery Board of Clark, Greene, and Madison Counties

Award Amount: $7,000

Summary: Bringing Awareness to Students (BATS) is a youth-led prevention program under the Mental Health Recovery Board of Clark, Greene, and Madison Counties, founded in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic to address youth mental health through the arts. With OSPF funding, BATS will host the Be the Change Youth Summit: Hurt People Hurt People at Wittenberg University in November 2025, led by high school students for Clark County middle schoolers. The summit will explore how violence impacts mental health, teach coping strategies for anxiety and depression, and train youth to collect and present data for school-based prevention projects.

County: Clermont

Organization: Coalition for a Drug Free Clermont County

Award Amount: $1,500

Summary: The Bethel-Tate Student Wellness Committee, founded in 2025 by a student leader and supported by the Coalition for a Drug-Free Clermont County, empowers students to promote substance use prevention, mental health, and suicide prevention at Bethel-Tate High School. Recognizing the region’s high rates of suicide, poverty, and limited access to mental health resources, the group seeks funding to renovate and expand the school’s Wellness Room. The project will provide essential hygiene items, comfortable furniture, plants, sensory tools, and calming décor to create a restorative space for students coping with stress and anxiety. Funds will also support promotional efforts and a community launch event to increase awareness and student engagement with the room.

County: Cuyahoga

Organization: 1,000 Ties

Award Amount: $7,000

Summary: Seven trained Ambassadors ages 15–24, guided by COO Trayvon Porter, will lead six monthly workshops at the Harvard and Lee Library on emotional etiquette, healthy relationships, coping skills, and career exploration. The project will serve 20 boys ages 8–12 in the 1,000 Ties Jr. program, providing consistent mentorship and structured life skills development. Grounded in evidence-based research, the program aims to reduce isolation, promote mental health awareness, and strengthen emotional well-being and protective factors that lower suicide risk.

County: Cuyahoga

Organization: Removing The Stigma

Award Amount: $4,000

Summary: Youth Life CLE (YLC), founded in 2024 by Removing The Stigma, is a youth-focused prevention program to build resilience, foster hope, and promote independence among young people. With funding support, YLC’s Youth Leadership Team will host after-school activities every Tuesday and Thursday for the 2025-2026 school year, to include: interactive workshops, art projects, role-playing, and short films about bullying experiences, designed to build empathy, social-emotional skills, and peer support. Sessions are held after school over six to seven weeks, concluding with a celebratory event where participants showcase their advocacy and creative work.

County: Delaware

Organization: HelpLine of Delaware and Morrow Counties, Inc.

Award Amount: $3,000

Summary: The Delaware County Youth-Led Council (DC-YLC), founded in 2024, empowers high school students to lead initiatives that promote mental health, reduce stigma, and address community wellness issues. For 2025–26, the DC-YLC plans to create a digital Wellness Hub that consolidates youth-friendly mental health and wellness resources, accessible via QR codes on promotional rack cards distributed in schools. They will also produce a peer-led podcast and video series on topics such as stress management, coping skills, and healthy relationships to normalize conversations about mental health.

County: Fairfield/Franklin

Organization: Canal Winchester High School

Award Amount: $3,000

Summary: The HOPE Squad at Canal Winchester High School, founded in 2023, is a student-led, peer-to-peer suicide prevention initiative that promotes a culture of compassion, trust, and mental wellness within the school. With support from OSPF, the program will expand its reach through monthly HOPE Days, a lunchroom music and speaker system, visible signage of support, and the creation of calming corners in classrooms and common areas. The project also includes therapy dog visits to reduce stress and foster connection among students.

County: Franklin

Organization: ArkBuilders

Award Amount: $5,000

Summary: Friday Night Hoops is a youth-led program based in Columbus, Ohio. It aims to reduce gun violence and prevent suicide among Somali Bantu and underserved youth by fostering connection and resilience through weekly basketball nights and creative activities. With funding from OSPF, the program will host weekly events featuring basketball, creative coping stations, peer-led workshops, mental health resource tables, and a youth ambassador program with leadership training and stipends.

County: Franklin

Organization: ArkBuilders – Reynoldsburg High School Summit Campus

Award Amount: $3,000

Summary: This program, led by Arkbuilders and NAMI of Franklin County, aims to address the mental health crisis among teens in the Reynoldsburg City School District through the Strategic Prevention Framework. The Leaders In Training (LIT) program, now in its third year, trains high school students to become peer leaders, using the 7 Mindsets curriculum to facilitate mental health conversations and model constructive engagement with peers. The project targets issues such as stigma, isolation, trauma, and stress, which contribute to high rates of suicidal thoughts and attempts among students, particularly in marginalized populations. Funded activities include youth-led activities such as Chat N Chew, Raider PEP, Livingston Live, Ending the Silence, Mental Health First Aid, and Sources of Strength, all designed to build resilience, awareness, and early intervention skills.

County: Franklin

Organization: CompDrug/DBA Youth to Youth International

Award Amount: $5,000

Summary: Youth to Youth International (Y2Y) empowers middle and high school students to live drug-free, support positive mental health, and lead prevention efforts in their communities. Through its Youth Advisory Board, Y2Y will launch a youth-led initiative focused on building resiliency as a protective factor for suicide prevention. The project will include a teen-produced video, a large group presentation, and interactive breakout sessions where students learn coping skills, mindfulness techniques, and ways to support peers. A pilot event will take place in February 2026, with a full-scale presentation at the Youth to Youth International Summer Conference in July 2026, reaching hundreds of teens across Ohio and beyond.

County: Franklin

Organization: Help For Homelessness and Beyond Inc.

Award Amount: $3,000

Summary: Help for Homelessness and Beyond Inc. (HHB) promotes awareness and prevention around domestic violence, bullying, homelessness, literacy, and mental health. Their new youth-led initiative, “I Love Myself More,” is a weekly podcast and live-streamed discussion series for youth ages 14–24 that focuses on self-worth, resilience, and suicide prevention. Each episode features a youth panel and adult moderator facilitating open conversations that build confidence, communication skills, and social connection while reducing feelings of isolation. The program will run from October 2025 to March 2026, concluding with a community Youth Sock Hop to celebrate participants and strengthen peer networks.

County: Franklin

Organization: South of Main Futures

Award Amount: $3,000

Summary: South of Main Futures, founded in 2020, is a youth-led prevention program serving at-risk and underserved youth on Columbus’s South Side, focusing on mental health, resilience, and life skills through trauma-informed, holistic approaches. With funding, the organization will implement the Reality Check project, offering workshops on digital safety, cyberbullying, coping skills, emotional regulation, body positivity, safe content creation, and peer-led mentorship. Youth participants will engage in creative projects such as video interviews, podcasts, and a Youth Showcase event, fostering resilience, self-expression, and positive peer connections.

County: Franklin

Organization: Urban Rhythms For Resilience in Partnership with ArkBuilders Inc.

Award Amount: $2,500

Summary: Mind Over Matter is a youth-led mental wellness initiative in Linden, Columbus, led by Urban Rhythms for Resilience in partnership with ArkBuilders Inc., aimed at promoting emotional resilience, social-emotional growth, and community connection through creative expression and culturally responsive programming. The program addresses critical issues such as youth exposure to violence, food insecurity, bullying, and unstable home environments, which contribute to emotional distress, aggression, and increased risk of self-harm. Activities include youth-led educational materials on hunger, mental health, and non-violent conflict resolution, food distribution campaigns, workshops, social media initiatives, and collaborative engagement with local schools, food banks, and recreation centers.

County: Hamilton

Organization: The Young CEO Program

Award Amount: $3,000

Summary: The Young CEO ‘Breathe, Relax, Recover’ initiative, launched in 2024, addresses rising suicide risk among Black teens by combining culturally competent mental health support, mentorship, workforce development, and youth-led media to strengthen protective factors and resilience. The program’s components include mobile “Resilience Circles” on the Young CEO bus, crisis awareness and gatekeeper training, peer ambassador programs, youth-created podcasts and social media campaigns, and family and community engagement workshops. It integrates firearm safety education to reduce access to lethal means, connects youth with trusted mentors and community leaders, and fosters safe, culturally responsive spaces for open dialogue. Year-one activities include training staff and mentors, launching weekly resilience circles, recording youth podcasts, developing media campaigns, evaluating progress via surveys, and hosting a community summit with a youth-led “Resilience Report.”

County: Jackson

Organization: Christian Life Academy

Award Amount: $2,500

Summary: Founded in December 2024, the Christian Life Academy (CLA) Youth-Led Prevention Group began with two students inspired by a regional summit to improve their school culture through kindness and inclusion. The group has grown to 24 members from grades 6 to 10 who are passionate about addressing key youth issues such as vaping, screen time, social isolation, and the importance of friendship and unity. With OSPF funding, the group plans to host a day-long Youth-Led Summit in February 2026 for approximately 75 students in grades 3–5. The summit will include hands-on activities and art projects focused on kindness, teamwork, and inclusion, along with lunch and resource-filled swag bags for participants. Through peer-led teaching, the summit will foster leadership, communication, and mentoring skills among older students while promoting belonging and emotional well-being among younger participants.

County: Lawrence

Organization: Impact Prevention

Award Amount: $4,800

Summary: Impact Prevention, a nonprofit established in 2017, has supported youth-led prevention programs across Lawrence County. The organization will host the Lawrence County Youth-Led Prevention Summit, “Empowerment: For Youth, By Youth,” planned and implemented entirely by high school students. The summit will focus on positive coping strategies, inclusivity, and connection to address the rising rates of hopelessness, sadness, and lack of belonging identified in the 2023–24 Ohio Healthy Youth Environments Survey. Participants will engage in peer-led lessons and receive suicide prevention resources, including 988 hotline materials.

County: Miami

Organization: Miami East High School

Award Amount: $3,000

Summary: The Miami East High School Hope Squad, established in 2020, is a peer-nominated, trained student group dedicated to reducing suicide and mental health stigma through awareness, education, and connection. Their new proposal seeks to create a Wellness Room, a calm, private space where students can decompress, practice self-regulation, and hold confidential QPR (Question, Persuade, Refer) conversations during moments of distress. This space aims to normalize seeking mental health support, prevent crises through early intervention, and reinforce a culture of care and inclusion within the school. Students will design, furnish, and launch the room by December 2025, followed by workshops and a community open house to introduce the resource.

County: Scioto

Organization: Sciotoville Community School/ Sources of Strength

Award Amount: $4,000

Summary: The Sources of Strength program at Sciotoville Community School, established in 2022, serves students in grades 6–12 by helping them identify personal strengths, build resilience, and reduce stigma around mental health. With OSPF funding, the program aims to expand campaigns, host large-scale events involving families, create visual displays highlighting strengths, and train students and staff to lead strengths-based activities throughout the year.

County: Summit

Organization: Pastoral Counseling Service of Summit County DBA Red Oak Behavioral Health

Award Amount: $2,500

Summary: The iC.A.R.E. CONNECT program, founded in 2021–2022, is an after-school, peer-to-peer mentoring initiative for middle and high school students focused on resilience, self-esteem, and problem-solving. With OSPF funding, CONNECT will expand its service-learning model, enabling students to design and lead mental health and suicide-prevention projects using the Strategic Prevention Framework. Activities are structured monthly to build awareness, strengthen connections, teach coping strategies, and promote help-seeking, including schoolwide campaigns, peer-led workshops, and skill-building exercises.

County: Tuscarawas

Organization: OhioGuidestone

Award Amount: $7,000

Summary: OhioGuidestone’s Youth to Youth program in Tuscarawas County is a student-led prevention group that empowers teens to make healthy choices, prevent substance misuse, and promote mental well-being. To address youth stress, burnout, and lack of leadership resources, the group proposes hosting a Youth-Led Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Summit for middle and high school leaders from all seven county school districts. Planned and led entirely by students, the summit will feature youth-designed workshops on topics such as setting boundaries, managing social media, and organizing mental health campaigns. Participants will also design prevention tools—like magnets or stickers promoting the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline—to share messages of hope in their schools.