CORAL SPRINGS, FLA. (WSVN) - The City of Coral Springs held a Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Town Hall meeting after two Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School students took their own lives.
Anxious parents piled into the 6 p.m. meeting at City Hall following the recent tragedies that have struck the community, Wednesday.
Nineteen-year-old Sydney Aiello, who lived through the massacre at MSD, died in an apparent suicide on March 17 after losing her friend, victim Meadow Pollack, during the shooting.
Aiello’s family said she had been suffering from survivor’s guilt.
On Saturday, 16-year-old Calvin Desir, a sophomore at MSD, also took his own life.
“Someone out there is feeling so much pain that they don’t know there’s support for them,” said Francisco Isaza with the Broward 211 crisis hotline.
The recent tragedies sparked a renewed response and effort to provide mental health services for those struggling and searching for reassurances.
“We came out with an action plan that we’re calling, ‘Just Ask and Just Listen,'” said Sarah Franco, executive director of the Jewish Adoption and Family Care Options.
The Eagles’ Haven Wellness Center, a safe space for shooting survivors, also opened its doors to the MSD community, Wednesday.
Leaders want to assure anyone with concerns that help is available.
“Not everybody is going to want the same kind of help. It’s not one size fits all,” said mental health professional Patrice Rotolo at the town hall meeting.
Professionals at the meeting emphasized to parents that communication and access to help were some of the core principals.
“There is a direction in that there’s some control in this chaotic situation,” said Cindy Arenberg Seltzer with the Children’s Services Council.
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