Dawn Powers does not need National Suicide Prevention Month to understand its devastating impact. She has lived with it since 2011.
But as a mental health specialist and Mental Health Navigator, she also knows how to talk to others about it. Her work is part of her healing, too.
Her husband took his own life in 2011. He had an untreated bi-polar disorder, which was made worse by the recession for the former New York financier. After moving to Southwest Florida in 2008, his mood and behavior were so unstable and worrisome that Dawn stayed close to home. She and her husband both grew up thinking that suicide or thoughts of suicide were not to be discussed, so addressing some of her concerns was difficult.
She never believed he would take his own life, but he did. From that moment on her life changed forever.
Moving Past Trauma and Grief
After her husband’s death, Dawn dedicated herself to her children and focused on her family’s healing. She and the children went to counseling to help move through their trauma and grief. Like many who have been through losing a loved one to suicide, they continue to struggle with his favorite holidays, his birthday, the anniversary of his death, and their wedding anniversary.
Dawn learned she and her family were not alone. She did some research and learned that from the beginning of 2011 to the day her husband died on Jan. 14 that year, one person a day died by suicide in Lee County.
Becoming a Mental Health Navigator
In time, Dawn decided to go back to school to learn how to offer help to others facing mental and behavioral health issues. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in psychology in 2018 and after working with the Lee County Department of Health for several years, she began her “dream job” as a Mental Health Navigator in June 2024.
Mental Health Navigators, a program launched in 2020 that is supported exclusively by philanthropy, helps high-risk children and vulnerable families get mental health services. Families are referred to the program by their school’s mental health team in Lee and Collier counties. As the program has expanded, Mental Health Navigators are also serving at Healthcare Network and Golisano Children’s Hospital. Currently, the program has 10 navigators and hopes eventually to have one in every Lee and Collier counties public school. Positions have been funded by Suncoast Credit Union, Collier Community Foundation, Clark Family Foundation, NCEF and other generous donors.
Navigators have their own lived experiences dealing with mental and behavioral health issues, often through a family member. They help support families referred to the program by connecting children and parents with mental health therapy services; helping families become self-sufficient in meeting their mental health care needs; securing funds for purchasing basic needs, such as food, toiletries and clothes, as well as helping with auto repairs for work-related purposes, and helping families apply for Lee Cares assistance. The idea is to eliminate barriers between what the patient needs and what barriers they are experiencing that keep them from accomplishing their goals.
Offering Hope to Others
Navigators know first-hand the frustration of getting appropriate support for their loved one and navigating obstacles. Dawn looks forward to helping others who are struggling and offering hope through her own experience.
For Dawn and her children, healing was a journey, but she is proud of what they have accomplished. Her daughter graduated with a master’s degree in 2023, is a teacher and recently became engaged. Her son received his bachelor’s degree in marketing in May and is working in the financial industry just like his Dad.
You can also offer help to others. Learn how you can support and help expand the Mental Health Navigator Program.
Suicide Resources
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration offers several resources to help prevent suicide: Learn the warning signs and risk factors for suicide, how to support someone considering suicide, and familiarize yourself with the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.