The Peyton Heart Project: Hearts for Hope
“kindness begins with the understanding that we all
struggle.” Charles Glassman
We can never truly fathom the power
of our words until we see the undeniable impact that they can have. The way
they can provide us with a sense of comfort or how they can completely decimate
the walls of our minds. It took only two words to completely shatter my
identity. Two words that forever branded themselves into my brain. “Kill
yourself.”
These words flashed across my screen after months of
enduring hundreds of other words that also gradually took away my ability to
see my value but none had that power that those two did.
In the fall of 2015 I woke up on a
park bench after attempting to take my own life. I knew I had been given a
second chance and I wasn’t about to waste it. So I have made it my mission to
raise awareness for suicide prevention, provide resources and scatter hope
worldwide.
Suicide rates are rapidly rising
not just globally but right here in our home state of North Dakota. North
Dakota has the highest rise in suicide rates in the entire country of 57% which
is 10% higher than the next state in line. Suicide is also the second leading
cause of death in North Dakota ages 15-34. As a suicide attempt survivor, I
wanted to make it my mission to do my part to help change these statistics.
I have partnered with two suicide
prevention organizations, The Peyton Heart Project and American Foundation for
Suicide Prevention, and have created Hearts for Hope presentations that have
reached thousands. Through American
Foundation for Suicide Prevention I act as a Field Advocate where I have raised
over $5,500 by hosting fundraisers, provide resources, and help to advocate
public policy to state legislators in our state.
This is my second year as a Field
Advocate and it has been an incredible experience being able to attend walks,
be an honored survivor, raise funds, and encourage my community to become
involved and #bethevoice to help prevent suicide.
The Peyton Project is a suicide
prevention and anti-bulling organization whose mission is to raise awareness
for suicide prevention and scatter hope worldwide. We raise awareness by
creating handcrafted hearts with tags that have a positive saying and a
referral to resources attached. We then scatter the hearts locally, nationally,
and worldwide. Peyton Hearts have been to every US state and over 60 countries!
These hearts represent the lives we have lost to suicide and resemble to
physical embodiment of hope. We encourage anyone who finds a heart to take a
photo and share it on Facebook/Instagram. Because this is a social media based
project we want to inspire others to share their story or simply how the heart
impacted their day using #peytonheartproject.
I am one of 22 active worldwide
ambassadors and I was the first ever ambassador to be from the state of North
Dakota! As an ambassador I have made over 7,000 heart, scattered thousands from
coast to coast in over 11 states, embarked on a 500 heart tour (Details on 500
heart tour 2019 to come!), have presented hearts to multiple North Dakota Mayors
and even Governor Doug Burgum, and have hosted heart making events across the
state.
Hearts for Hope is a group of
presentations that I developed to discuss the topics of suicide prevention,
mental health and anti-bullying with all age groups. I have been able to share
these presentations with thousands of students across the the region. Being
able to share Hearts for Hope has been my favorite part of being an ambassador
and Miss North Dakota International!
Hearts for Hope is not just my
platform, it my lifestyle. I dedicate every day to raising awareness for
suicide prevention and fulfilling my purpose as a survivor. Whether I’m
spending hours making Peyton hearts, hosting events or speaking to thousand I
am making it my mission to raise awareness for suicide prevention and be the
voice for a cause that affects so many every day.
“What you do makes a difference, and you have
to decide what kind of difference you want to make.” Every day we have the
power to make a difference in the lives of others and in the process we learn
more about who we are as individuals.
The more you act toward a greater purpose beyond yourself, the more you
grow.
For more information on the Peyton Heart Project visit www.thepeytonheartproject.org
For more information or resource visit www.afsp.org
Have courage and ALWAYS be kind
Ava Hill
Miss North Dakota International 2019
