On October 26, 2024, nearly 100 people gathered at the PwC office in the Seaport to connect with the Samaritans community and celebrate our 50 years of impact. It was an honor to reconnect with familiar faces and new members of the Samaritans community, including former staff and board members.
Keynote speaker Rhonda Pilla co-facilitates our new SafePlace suicide grief support group for the LGBTQ+ community. She shared her story of losing her wife Pam to suicide in 2019 and how her journey through grief connected her with Samaritans.
With this new community-specific SafePlace, I could give her life and her death meaning, while also helping others like me.
“I contacted Samaritans and found comfort in attending SafePlace meetings, where I was connected to folks who were experiencing, or who had experienced this complicated grief. It made me feel that I too will be okay again one day.”
Her experience facing the double stigma of suicide and being a part of the LGBTQ+ community motivated her to create a space where suicide loss survivors could openly discuss their grief and their person without fear of judgment.
“With this new community-specific SafePlace, I could give [my wife’s] life and her death meaning, while also helping others like me. wanted to help other LGBTQ+ grievers and, at the same time give them a safe place to speak openly about this complicated double stigma that we all shared.”
In addition to celebrating what Samaritans is currently doing to help support our community, this was also a time to give thanks for the incredible work that has been accomplished over the past five decades. From crisis intervention to community-based prevention efforts, our commitment to making a difference in the lives of those affected by suicide is unwavering.
None of this lifesaving work would have been possible without the dedication of those who helped build this organization over the past 50 years.
View more photos from the Community Gathering on Flickr.
Samaritans also expressed gratitude for the outgoing board chair, Samantha Joseph, whose years of dedicated service, vulnerability in sharing her own story of suicide loss, and passion for their mission have left a lasting impact. As a fierce advocate for the loss survivor community, Samantha shared her personal essay on losing her Aunt Gail in the New York Times Modern Love column.
The community gathering was a powerful reminder of the impact that Samaritans has had and continues to have on our community.
Thank you to everyone who attended our 2024 Annual Meeting. Our work would not be possible without all of you. Together, we’ve created spaces of hope, empathy, and connection—places where people can find the strength to keep going.
