Suicide prevention at next council meeting

SEELEY LAKE - Suicide Prevention will top the agenda of next Monday’s meeting of the Seeley Lake Community Council. Sadly, Montana holds the suicide record in the nation with more than three and a half times the rate of New York, the lowest state.

Nancy de Pastino, Missoula County Suicide Prevention Coordinator, will start with a presentation of what the County is doing to help desperate people who can see no way out.

Following Pastino will be Molly Bowlen of the Missoula City-County Department of Relationship Violence Services. Bowlen will talk about violence prevention and healthy relationships. She provides free counseling to help people heal from abuse, and she works with the Swan Valley Elementary school in Condon, Seeley Lake Elementary and Seeley-Swan High School.

Next will be Karen Hughes of the Missoula County Community & Planning Services, who will talk about Missoula County’s Climate Resiliency Plan.

Finally, a regular guest at the Council, USFS Seeley Lake District Ranger Quinn Carver will give an update about what’s going on at the Forest Service.

Everybody is invited to participate in the Council’s discussions on agenda items during the meeting, including community members who follow the meeting on Facebook. Like always, towards the end of the meeting there will be an opportunity for public comments on non-agenda items.

The informal part of the meeting will start at 5:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 11, at the Seeley Lake Historical Museum and Visitors Center, 2920 Highway 83, with pizza and water. The formal meeting begins at 6 p.m.

For those of you who are not in Seeley or have to miss the meeting, you will be able to either witness the meeting live or replay it later on the Seeley Lake Community Council’s Facebook page. Visit the page and click on the window that says “Seeley Lake Community Council is live now” to watch during the meeting. To send a question during the meeting, use the chat box on the right side of the screen. Council member Tom Browder will relay it to the speaker.  

For further information please contact Klaus von Stutterheim, SLCC Chair, at 406-210-8576 or kvs@kvs.org.