City Club Missoula’s July forum addresses high suicide rate

City Club Missoula will explore the high rates of suicide in Missoula and the overall state of Montana at this month’s forum, set for Monday, July 10, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Doubletree Hotel.

Over the least three years, suicide has claimed the lives of well over 100 Missoula County residents. No other single cause of death in Missoula suddenly and tragically kills so many local residents.

That’s why City Club is devoting its July forum to educating the community about this public health crisis, with a focus on how everyone can play a role in preventing suicide.

Panelists include Anton Johnson, outreach specialist for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ Missoula Vet Center; Kathy Mangan, executive director of Red Willow Learning Center; Kim Seeberger, Missoula County chief deputy treasurer, who lost a teen daughter to suicide and became a suicide-prevention trainer in Missoula; and Matt Taylor, an organizational consultant with a long history of suicide-prevention work locally, statewide, nationally and internationally.

Johnson, Seeberger and Taylor serve on the Project Tomorrow Montana leadership team. Mangan is a leader in local efforts to address trauma and build resilience through mind-body healing services.

City Club Missoula forums are open to the public. Registration is required at www.cityclubmissoula.com.  To pay at the door by check, email ccm@cityclubmissoula.com and indicate if you want lunch – $16 per person for members, $20 per person for general public – or the no-lunch option of forum-only for $10. Payment is required for late cancellations and unclaimed reservations.