KENT, Ohio — At a young age, Julia Hallgren experienced significant loss. 


What You Need To Know

  • The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention event promotes mental health awareness and suicide prevention

  • Dozens participated in an event Sunday to support suicide prevention awareness in Kent

  • National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255

“When I was a sophomore in high school, I lost a friend due to depression." Hallgren said. "They were 15-years-old and I was also 15 at the time.”

Hallgren had just moved to northeast Ohio from Nashville, Tennessee.

She was just days into her sophomore year at Stow-Munroe Falls High School when she learned that her lifelong friend committed suicide. 

“I felt really alone being up here," Hallgren explained. "Not feeling like I could have anyone who could relate to me.” 

To help cope with her loss, Hallgren got involved with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. 

“I just really felt connected with others who have dealt with the same thing,” Hallgren said.

Now, at just 18-years-old Hallgren is on track to be the president of the junior board of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. 

“I think just spreading a good message and getting involved in your community is the smallest way to start a big impact,” she said.

On Sunday, Hallgren hosted a "chalk and walk" event in downtown Kent where members of the community were invited out to chalk inspirational messages onto the cities sidewalks. 

Hallgren said the goal was to promote mental health awareness and suicide prevention. 

"A lot of inspirational messages and really positive stuff is being put around town," Hallgren explained. "I think it’s really beautiful to see.” 

Along with the positive notes, mental health resources like www.afsp.org and the phone number of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, 1-800-273-8255, were plastered all over the sidewalks. 

“I think it’s important because we don’t know what’s happening in people's lives," Hallgren said. "Just like if we are at work or school, they go home and they deal with stuff that we don’t know about.” 

Hallgren hopes that these messages will not only raise awareness, but she hopes that they help brighten the day of anyone who reads them. 

"Just giving someone a little piece of hope is really important," she said. "It doesn’t matter how small it is; it is just the message that matters.” 

The teen plans to make the chalk and walk an annual event.