Grief after Suicide
  • Grief After Suicide Blog
  • Personal Grief Coaching
  • Training & Presentations
  • Suggest a Story
  • Contact

TWO SURVIVORS SHARE GRIEF JOURNEY IN CROSS-COUNTRY CYCLING TREK

5/17/2012

0 Comments

 
I received an email recently from suicide bereavement support group facilitator Marcia Epstein about two remarkable young men who are biking across the country to bring attention to suicide's impact on individuals and communities. Marcia directs the Headquarters Counseling Center in Lawrence, Kansas, where local survivors had a potluck dinner for the cyclists.

Zachary Chipps and Thomas Brown met in 2009 as co-workers in an after-school youth recreation program in Scottsdale, Ariz., and discovered that each of them -- when they were 24 years old -- had lost their older brothers to suicide. Their common experience sparked their creativity (Zak is a drummer, Thomas is a video artist), and they formed R.I.S.E. (Revolution Inspired by Self Evolution) to organize the cross-country trek, which began in March at the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.
They will be using various forms of media, including blogging and in-depth video shorts, to connect more intimately with those who are participating and following their journey. While many have traveled by bike or foot across the country, and have blogged about their adventures, their planned extent of real-time video blogging will be unprecedented. Thomas will film the entire tour, providing a collective view of suicide, the ripple effect it can create in one’s life, family and community, and how “personal reflection and creative expression can be a catharsis to counter stressful ordeals."

Below are examples of the video clips Thomas and Zak are posting along the way, the first one features Thomas a few days after their journey began on the West Coast, and the second one features Zak more than two months later in eastern Kansas:

You can follow Zak's and Thomas's progress on the RISE Phoenix blog and on their Facebook page. They are relying on the hospitality of survivors and suicide prevention stakeholders across the country to help them along their journey, so please send an email to Thomas if you can lend them a hand.
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    FREE NEWSLETTER
    BLOG HOME PAGE
    • "After a Suicide" Resources 
    • Directory of Survivor Support Groups


    Categories

    All
    Advocacy & Policy
    Announcements
    Black Community
    Children's Grief
    Community Support
    Death Of A Child
    Death Of A Friend
    Death Of A Parent
    Death Of A Sibling
    Death Of A Spouse
    Depression & Grief
    Experts On Grief
    First Responders
    FJC's Journal
    Grief And Communities
    Health & Grief
    Helping Others
    Holidays
    Men's Grief
    Military
    National Guidelines
    Peer Support
    Programs And Services
    Research
    Spirituality & Grief
    Suicide Prevention
    Support Groups
    Survivor Outlook
    Survivor Resources
    Survivor Showcase
    Survivor Stories
    Taking Action
    Trauma

    Grief after Suicide posts are by Franklin Cook (unless noted). Learn more about Franklin's work in suicide grief support.
    Blogs on Suicide Grief
    • Alliance of Hope
    • Healing Suicide Grief
    • Lala's Mom
    • Our Side of Suicide
    • Mary's Shortcut
    • Loss of a Child
    • Bright Shining Star
    • Speaking of Suicide
    • Everything But the Cat

    RSS Feed

    TERMS OF USE AND SERVICE
    Must be read by anyone posting any content on this website.

    © 2016 Personal Grief Coaching.
    All Rights Reserved.