Final Interview with Kailei - Suicide Prevention
Last week, we were lucky enough to sit down with Kailei Jarvis, an Indiana native who hosted Serena’s Memorial Tattoo Birthday Bash last weekend in honor of her daughter’s 3 year death anniversary. Kailei lost Serena due to suicide and has been making remarkable efforts to raise awareness for suicide prevention by creating scholarship programs for suicide survivors, and hosting events to raise money for Cass County Zero Suicide Taskforce.
Kailei’s daughter Serena, loved tattoos and designed a handful of ones. A while back, Kailei posted one of the designs Serena made and asked if anyone else wanted to receive this tattoo design. Astonished by the amount of people interested, Kailei was inspired to create a larger organized event this year.
Kailei’s hope for this event was to raise awareness for suicide and help remove stigmas associated with it by educating those in attendance. An interesting discovery she found while reaching out to companies and raising awareness for this event she discovered most people were connected with someone lost due to suicide. She found that so many people were affected by suicide and believes with it’s prevalency there should be more open conversations surrounding it. She hopes to “make a difference for the unsaid mothers, fathers and caregivers.”
An amazing goal of Kailei is beginning a scholarship program for survivors of suicide and those affected by mental health struggles. Those who also qualify are students who share in the same intended major Serena had which was to be a veterinarian. Specifically, Serena dreamed of working with big animals in zoos as she was a lover of animals! Inspired by her love of animals they added a bunny tattoo inspired by Serena’s love for animals, to the flash tattoos at the event. She hopes to expand the Cass County Zero Suicide Taskforce by offering meals, gas cards, and support from therapists on call to suicide survivors and familes affected by suicide.
We talked a bit about the value of community and Kailei stated that, “my community has grown so much.” She realized how much support she truly had after the passing of Serena and she has felt so uplifted by others in her community. Her community has even recently begun a community garden to create more connection and people have told her they inspire her.
When it comes to something Kailei believes we should all know concerning suicide it is that, if you may know someone suffering from mental health you should reach out to them. Many times we may think someone is doing better but you never know so continuing to check in is of great value and can save lives.
If you are someone you know may have suicidal thoughts, reach out to 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline
