Check Out Jenna Clinchard’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jenna Clinchard.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I am a single mom with two extraordinary daughters, one is in high school, and the other is attending college. We moved to Boulder in 2015, and at the time, I was fortunate enough to be a stay-at-home mom helping my kiddos navigate through some challenging times in their lives. Both of my girls have experienced mental health struggles throughout their lives, which has had an incredible impact on my life and gotten me to where I am today. Our move to Boulder was propelled by my youngest daughter, Jude, who was nine at the time, telling me she is transgender.

At the time we were not living in a safe place for Jude to transition and were fortunate enough to be able to move to Boulder, which would be a safer place for her to transition. Jude struggled growing up, before she transitioned, with a lot of self-hate and wanting to die; for the life of me, I could not figure out why because she was raised in a happy and loving home. However, once she started living as her true self, her mental health improved greatly. My oldest, Madison, has had anxiety and depression her whole life; when she was little, it was manageable; however, her sophomore year, she became sad and distant. I found her sitting at our kitchen table one morning having her first panic attack, which was quickly followed by her opening up to me about her suicidal ideation, plan, and her begging me to please just let her die. She said that she didn’t want to be in the world anymore and that she just wanted her little sister and me to let her go.

The helplessness I felt at that moment was indescribable. I told her I would never willingly let her go and that I love her with all my heart and soul. We talked more about depression and anxiety running in my family and that it was time to see a therapist. My family is privileged to have insurance, and we were able to find a fantastic therapist for our girl. I am a true believer that all children that need therapy deserve mental health counseling, not just the children of families that can afford it.

While volunteering with Boulder Valley Safe Schools Coalition, a group supporting our unsupported LGBTQIA+ youth at their schools, I met the most wonderful woman. She told me that the executive director of the non-profit board she sat on was retiring and that I would be a perfect fit for the position. The organization is Rise Against Suicide, which helps uninsured or underinsured youth struggling with suicidal ideation. I knew that this opportunity would allow me to help vulnerable under-resourced youth struggling with suicide, which is extremely important given the role that it has played in my life and my family’s life.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
When I joined Rise Against Suicide, the organization was struggling financially which meant I needed to start raising money so we could continue to serve youth struggling with suicidal ideation. Getting out into our community was imperative to let everyone know about the services we offer to youth so we could raise money and create awareness for the program. Another challenge was and still is, finding licensed and insured therapists that will work with our Rise kids at a reduced rate. It presents a challenge when the demand for youth therapists is so high and Colorado is under-resourced in terms of mental health. We currently have an extraordinary roster of therapists however they can only see a few Rise kids because they still need to attend to their own clients as well.

Suicide is the second leading cause of death for youth in Colorado, and between 2016-2019 the suicide rate for 15-19-year-olds increased 58%. The Rise board and I ask ourselves every day how do we reach these youth to let them know we are here to help.

Most youth that we serve are referred by school counselors or interventionists. Reaching youth outside of their school environment has been extremely challenging during COVID. We are always searching for new ways to expand our outreach and let our suicidal youth know that we are here to help. During COVID we have cultivated relationships with organizations that see a similar demographic, which has helped broaden our outreach and deliver our services.

Every year we hold two fundraisers that, combined, account for 40% of our budget. Last March when COVID started and the government restricted group events, we were a month and a half away from our Emerge 5k run, which meant that we could not have the run at Boulder Reservoir. What were we going to do, how were we going to continue to support and help our suicidal youth? We made the decision and scrambled to have a virtual race instead; we had so much community support, and participants from eight countries, and twenty-seven states. It was such a miracle and a gift that so many showed support for ending youth suicide. Our second fundraiser is our Holiday Star Program, people who shop at local businesses are encouraged to take a star with a child’s name and age off the Rise tree and “give the gift of mental health over the holiday season” by donating. We typically set up trees or starry walls at local businesses; however, due to COVID, we did not have as many patrons at the locations, so we needed to figure out a virtual component to this as well. We allowed people to choose stars online and donate that way as well.

We continue to step up to the challenges and grow our organization.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Rise Against Suicide serves uninsured or underinsured youth 19 years old and under that are struggling with suicidal ideation. We connect youth with a licensed and insured therapist and pay for them to receive counseling. What makes our program unique is our ability to have a child be seen by one of our therapists within 24-72 hours if needed. We are grateful to report, that Rise Against Suicide has not lost a child to suicide during their mental health therapy. Our therapists report that when youth finish therapy with them that they have more hope and tools in their toolbox to help them get through the tough times.

My professional life is both challenging and rewarding. Challenging because youth suicide is a heavy subject and can be difficult to face day in and day out. However, the rewards far outweigh the challenges because I know that I get to help save children’s lives every day with the work we do at Rise Against Suicide; that is the real gift. When I hear from a parent that their kiddo is no longer suicidal and have the tools and skills to get through their hard times, I am reminded of why I suit up and show up every day. I am also extremely grateful to be surrounded by the most supportive and helpful board an executive director could ever hope for. Since I am currently the only employee for the organization, they are a working board, and we all work together to keep Rise Against Suicide supporting suicidal youth in our community.

The crisis has affected us all in different ways. How has it affected you and any important lessons or epiphanies you can share with us?
COVID-19 has taught me valuable lessons both personally and professionally. Personally, I have learned to live one day at a time because that is really all we have; on really tough days, I take it one minute at a time. COVID-19 has allowed me to be with my two beautiful daughters for the past year, which most parents do not get in a lifetime because life can get so busy, which has served to bring the three of us even closer. Overall, I’ve learned to value the little miracles in life because those are what matter most. Professionally, I learned that we still have a lot of work to reach all uninsured and underinsured youth in our community. Young people will be coming back to school with many unseen mental struggles from this pandemic, and we will be here to help. In addition to this, our organization has learned that we have an outreach gap, which made it difficult for us to connect with kids during COVID-19 as they were out of school. Due to the lessons and challenges, we have faced this year; our organization continues to grow stronger and more effective at helping our suicidal youth find hope and healing.

Contact Info:

• Email: jenna@riseagainstsuicide.org
• Website: riseagainstsuicide.org
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/riseagainstsuicide

Image Credits
Bart Young