It’s national suicide prevention week and leaders of Headquarters Counseling Center are reaching out, in hopes people will get help before it’s too late.

“Lots of people struggle, help is available and it can make a huge difference,” said Marcia Epstein, director of the counseling center, 211 E. 8th St. “Sometimes people don’t know there’s help available or don’t know it can make a difference and it can.”

Someone in Kansas commits suicide each day. A table at the center, with pictures of several people who have committed suicide, is a reminder that people of all ages take their own lives.

There were 20 suicide deaths in Douglas County in 2006, 17 in 2007, and so far this year there have been at least six, according to the center’s records. The national average for a similar population is 11 per year.

Counselors at the center have been addressing the problem for years. They work around-the-clock, answering call from people who are depressed and suicidal. They provide one-on-one counseling and work with people whose loved ones have taken their lives.

But, the center also works to educate people about suicide prevention.

“We need people to believe it’s worth trying to get help,” Epstein said. “The cost of getting help is a lot less than the impact of dying, in terms of the devastation on everybody else.”

A calendar filled with small pieces of paper at the center is another powerful reminder about the number of people who kill themselves locally and the number of survivors they leave behind.

The center hopes more people will find the help they need before taking their own life.

Events are being held across the community, to mark suicide prevention week. At 6:30 p.m. Thursday, the center invites you to the library to watch a documentary and talk about suicide.