Hanley Foundation’s Alli Jimenez was recently featured on Let’s Talk Charity, which is co-hosted by Sherrye Sammons and Hanley Foundation’s Director of Development Gina Franano. In her radio interview on Suicide Prevention, Alli shared her “why” behind entering the mental health field and spoke about the need for more education on suicide prevention in our community.
Alli is currently the lead for Hanley Foundation’s Zero Suicide Initiative. With her experience and expertise in mental health, trauma, and crisis intervention, Alli is excited to be partnering with mental health professionals across Palm Beach County and the State of Florida to offer and expand evidence-based Suicide Prevention and Education efforts to families and youth serving professionals. The Zero Suicide Initiative framework is a system-wide, organizational commitment to safer suicide care in health and behavioral health care systems and is based on the realization that suicidal individuals often fall through the cracks in a sometimes-fragmented health care system.
“Even in graduate school for people that are specializing in social work or mental health counseling, there’s not a specific course that really touches on suicide, and to me that’s crazy because (suicide) it’s the second leading cause of death for young people ages 10-24,” said Jimenez. “And, it’s the leading cause of death for white middle aged males.”
Through her work with Hanley Foundation, Alli hopes to close some of the gaps in suicide prevention education. She is currently finalizing her Graduate Degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling at Palm Beach Atlantic University, specializing in Trauma and Crisis Intervention where she is on track to graduate Summa Cum Laude in December of 2022. Allison is also a therapist intern at The Center for Trauma Counseling where she works with clients of all ages experiencing and recovering from various traumas and crises. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Florida International University where she graduated Magna Cum Laude in 2019.
To sign up for QPR Suicide Prevention training click here.