PLATTSBURGH — The 10th annual “Evening of Healing: Stories of Strength” will be held March 23 at the Newman Center, 90 Broad St., Plattsburgh, from 6 to 7:30 pm.
“The Coalition to Prevent Suicide had been working with the Suicide Prevention Office of New York and the Office of Mental Health regarding gatherings of people who had had traumatic experiences as well as losses by suicide,” Bonnie Black, chair of Clinton County NY Coalition to Prevent Suicide, said. “In those nascent years, we wanted to expand it a bit more than suicide because so many traumatic events can pile up on each other whether we’re children, teenagers, adults, seniors that then are part of that profile for a person that lends itself for considering suicide.
“It’s really 12 years ago because we took two years off for COVID. Twelve years ago, we did our first Evening of Healing at the Strand Theatre, and after that, we moved to the Newman Center, much more intimate, much more reflective than the large space that we had a the theater.”
Through a variety of different situations, everyone experiences pain and suffers unexpected loss at some time in their lives. The goal of an Evening of Healing is to open communication for attendees to learn where and how to find strength, connect with people so healing can begin, and leave with a sense of hope and purpose.
Members from previous panels will be in attendance, as well as new panelists who will share their stories of strength. The program will be introduced by members of the Evening of Healing Committee. Panel discussions will be led by Black, Deena Giltz McCullough and Sally Meisenheimer.
“Our core of volunteers are the same women who started it and are continuing to work with it, most of which have their own traumas in their own lives and could relate to others in our community to help with their stories of strength because that is our whole focus. It’s not the trauma itself or what the person went through during their traumatic experiences, it truly is those stories of strength that benefit those attending or watching it later on YouTube. We always have three people. We learned after the first year, three was the magic number, not more,” Black said.
MAGIC THREE
This year’s panelists are:
— Dena Archer, proprietor of Archer Bodyworks, LLC, who has a story of emerging resilient from racial traumas.
— Damien Battinelli, of Your Space Between, Inc., who will discuss his focus on ending negative stigmas, supporting military veterans, and preventing suicide. His 9/11 experience along with suicide ideation has motivated him to form the nonprofit.
— Dragos Banu, MD, will speak on finding strength and healing after his infant daughter’s death.
Battinelli, a technical Ssergeant, served 13.5 years in the U.S. Air Force.
“That’s how I ended up at Ground Zero. I was at the Newburgh Air National Guard Base at the time. That was my unit, and I got deployed to Ground Zero when I was 20 years old. and then 15 years later, I got bladder cancer from 9/11. That was horrible. Just a lot of crap,” he said.
Battinelli describes Your Space Between as a virtual pathway.
“We focus on mental health and suicide prevention. I have a long history with both,” he said. “I was a 9/11 first responder, my dad died, a couple of divorces, cancer and other things that have happened throughout my life. Back in 2024, I decided to work as hard as I could on myself, and I’m ready to share what I learned and how I’ve gotten through, and I just want to help the community figure it out as well.”
Between Mountains Magazine will be launched digitally in the spring online at yourspacebetween.org.
“That’s focused on the same thing that our nonprofit is focused on, mental health and suicide prevention. We are really excited about multiple writers, plenty of photos and videos to watch. We try to connect people with their local mental health resources,” Battinelli said. “The site is in development. It will continuously grow as we learn about local resources that we can share through the site as well.”
Musical interludes will be performed by Jay Lasage. Recipients of Be The One Scholarship will also accept their scholarships and present their stories, according to a press release.
Created in 2019, these scholarships are a means to reach graduating seniors in Clinton County and ask questions related to mental health and suicide prevention. The scholarship gives individuals an opportunity to discover how they can “Be the One” to make a difference by reducing stigma, sharing stories of hope and encouragement, and brainstorming creative messaging to include social media campaigns to save lives. This year, Keep Another Tomorrow Foundation joined to fund four scholarships.
“We do it all within the hour and half. We end by 7:30. Although it doesn’t feel timed, it is timed,” Black said. “Of course, there will be information from the Coalition to Prevent Suicide as always.”
The Foundation of Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital co-sponsors Evening of Healing with Northern Insuring Agency, the Clinton County NY Coalition to Prevent Suicide and TwinState Technologies.
This event is free and open to the public.
Parking on site at the Newman Center is reserved for those who have difficulty with mobility. All others are asked to park in the Kehoe parking lot across the street. The Kehoe lot can be accessed from either Broad or Rugar streets.