IRON MOUNTAIN, Mich. (WZMQ) – The 7th annual Hope 2 Help Suicide Awareness Walk brought more than 400 community members to Iron Mountain’s downtown plaza for an event focused on mental health awareness and suicide prevention. Organized by the Dickinson-Iron Communities that Care, the walk highlighted the importance of open conversations around mental health while offering support and resources. The event, supported by local families, mental health professionals, and community organizations, featured raffles, a children’s area, and live music from local musicians.
The move to the downtown plaza provided a safer environment for attendees and allowed the community to access QPR (Question, Persuade, Refer) suicide prevention training, held at the Dickinson County Library. This year’s venue change addressed safety concerns from previous years.
“With it being more set aside, away from traffic, I think we’re doing a lot better,” said Bob Boivin, Prevention Coordinator for Dickinson-Iron Communities that Care. “A lot of parents were concerned last year. This is a safer spot.”
The walk wasn’t just about raising awareness. It was also an opportunity for families to begin conversations about mental health. Boivin emphasized that family-friendly activities, like bouncy houses and children’s areas, helped make the event more approachable for younger attendees, while also making resources available for parents.
“I want to help raise awareness and remove the stigma. Our families are important to us, and this event is a way to start that conversation, even though it’s a heavy topic,” Boivin explained.
Several local organizations, including Northpointe Behavioral Health and Great Lakes Recovery, offered support through booths and services. The Iron Mountain Fire Department and Michigan State Police were also present, highlighting the need for community trust in first responders when addressing sensitive issues like mental health.
“There are fire departments and law enforcement here. A large part of the issue is that people don’t trust public servants today. I wanted kids to be able to talk to police and fire and see them as people who are actively involved in things like this,” Boivin noted.
The event also promoted QPR suicide prevention training, a 1-hour course designed to help people respond to a suicide crisis. Local mental health professionals were on hand to teach the training, with plans to offer it monthly.
“We’ve had QPR available once a month for the last 6 months, and we’re planning to continue for the next six,” Boivin said. Dickinson-Iron Communities that Care plans to arrange to have the training available completely free to local businesses, and even schools or churches.
Boivin highlighted the involvement of local businesses like Loadmaster, which recently partnered with Great Lakes Recovery to offer mental health training for their management team.
“Loadmaster had Tracy from Great Lakes Recovery Center come in for a full day of training in Norway. She taught QPR and mental health first aid to a large part of their upper management for over 4 weeks,” Boivin said. “They were the first local business to take us up on this offer, and the training was completely free.” Boivin explained that Loadmaster utilized the QPR training and a “mental health first aid” training.
Boivin also noted that MJ Electric has started to incorporate mental health discussions into their orientation process. “There are lots of local businesses that are starting to do things. MJ electric just started as part of their orientation process to talk about mental health,” he shared.
Throughout the afternoon, the plaza bustled with activity, and Boivin hoped the turnout would exceed 500 attendees by the end of the day. Local businesses donated over 90 raffle items, and over 60 other businesses gave cash donations, with proceeds going toward mental health initiatives offered through the Dickinson-Iron Communities that Care.
Boivin shared his long-term vision for the event: “This isn’t a once-a-year topic. Awareness is important every day. We’re starting Trees of Hope for Dickinson and Iron Counties, where businesses sponsor trees to keep the conversation about suicide prevention ongoing.”
The day concluded with a sense of hope and community, as attendees gathered to share their stories and support one another in breaking down the stigma around mental health and suicide prevention.
For more information and to reach out to the Dickinson-Iron Communities that Care, visit:
