"Colorado State Representative Leslie Herod, who had founded Caring 4 Denver right before Jamel took his life, took similarly swift action after his death. “When I started Caring 4 Denver, I wasn’t focused on suicide,” Herod tells Yahoo Lifestyle. But Jamel’s death changed that. Now, Caring 4 Denver will raise $45 million per year to fund mental health and addiction services for children and adults, a large amount of which will go to aiding youth, including for suicide preven

"DENVER -- Despite federal opposition, Denver is trying again to become what could be the first U.S. city to open a supervised drug injection site, a strategy that some liberal cities have tried repeatedly to launch to reduce overdose deaths fueled by a nationwide opioid epidemic. The Denver City Council voted 12-1 on Monday to approve a measure that would allow one site to open for at least two years under a pilot program. But there are still several hurdles to clear. The pr

"A year after Colorado saw a record 1,175 suicides and an all-time high number of drug overdoses, according to the Colorado Health Institute, Denver voters decided to take matters into their own hands. On Election Day, the city passed a .25 percent sales tax (or 25 cents on a $100 purchase) under the Caring 4 Denver initiative, raising a new stream of money to treat mental health and addiction. It’s meant to take the response out of the hands of police and jails and focus on

“This is the kind of incident that shakes our entire community. As a member of the LGBT community that came out later on in life, I can only imagine the pain and fear that this young boy felt,” Herod said. “We can and we must act now to ensure that this doesn’t happen again. We must celebrate everyone’s uniqueness. Bullying is unacceptable. We must stand up for each other.” "Mental Health Colorado says it’s important to start teaching kids in elementary school about social an

A Denver ballot initiative could bring in tens of millions of dollars a year to help people with mental health and substance disorder issues. State Rep. Leslie Herod, a Denver Democrat, is spearheading the "Caring 4 Denver" campaign. She said the proposal makes financial sense in that, if it’s passed by voters, it could fund a variety of mental health programs. The money would come from a one-quarter of 1 percent city sales tax — that's 25 cents on a $100 purchase. Read full

A request for a 0.25 percent sales tax for mental health services and addiction treatment qualified for the November ballot in Denver Tuesday. The measure is expected to raise $45 million to improve “the quality, availability and affordability of community-based mental health and addiction care,” said Caring 4 Denver, the group backing the proposal. Read full article #suicide #mentalhealth #Mentalhealth #qualitymentalhealthcare #Caring4Denver #ballotinitiative