Welcome back to Flashpoint.
May is Mental Health Awareness Month,
and now a Charlotte native is pushing
for big change to help prevent
suicides across North Carolina.
And she says her effort all
starts with parking garages.
Joining us now is Fonda Bryant.
She's the founder and CEO of
Wellness Action Recovery.
Fonda, thanks for coming on Flashpoint.
Thank you for having me. I appreciate it.
So Mental Health Awareness Month E is an
important time for folks to talk about
it and get the help that they n.
And I know for for you it's a vy
personal issue as well. Explain.
Yes, I am a mental health and
suicide prevention advocate,
but it comes from personal experience.
I was diagnosed with clinical
depression 28 years ago after a
suicide attempt and ever since then I
have dedicated myself to gettint
here and educating people becau.
Even though mental health is physical health,
people don't treat it that way.
People treat mental health almot
like a plague to a certain degr.
The stigma around mental health is one
of the biggest reasons is the biggest
reason why people won't get hel.
And once you educate people,
you get rid of that stigma.
So for me, being an advocate is
all about educating people to lt
them know it's okay to get help.
It's that we can recover and
we can live a good life.
Up in the General Assembly,
the North Carolina House introdg
the Fonda Bryant Suicide Prevention Act
to try and get more resources to folks
who who who are in a in a bad s.
What what does this bill
specifically look to address?
It's it's specifically addressig
suicide and parking decks.
There was a stat that came out by the
International Parking and Mobily
Institute in 2016 that said tha%
of parking decks in the United States
have problems with either people
attempting suicide or dying by suicide,
and Charlotte is not exempt to .
As a matter of fact,
the Center City Parking deck
has six suicides there in.
Four years before I went to thed
2019 and asked we put up signs to stop
suicide and once we did the sig,
I went up in March of 2019.
And we made it all the way through a year,
going into two years.
And unfortunately a 17 year oldl
went up to the parking deck jump
because my signs weren't visible enough.
They were only in the stairwell and you
would only see him if you were coming
up the elevator or in the stair.
And after she died by suicide in
December 2020, I went back and ,
hey, we got to make these signs
bigger and more visible and we .
And since December of 2020 we have had.
Had no suicides in parking deck.
And to me,
I know in in that particular parking deck,
and I know it's because of
the wording on those signs.
You're not alone.
Because when you're struggling
with a mental health condition,
you truly believe that you're by yourself,
even though we know there are millions of
people in the United States and across
the world who have mental health issues.
But when you're struggling,
you truly feel like you're by yourself.
So those 3 words,
you're not alone.
Let somebody know, hey,
you're not the only one struggl,
we're here for you.
You can get the help and you can get better.
So what does this legislation d?
Put these, these signs in more parking
decks. Is that what what it doe?
Well, yes, that's what the that's what
the House Bill 858 does in my n.
What it does is, is that it is going to
push parking decks to put those signs
in every single parking deck that are
three stories and above to keep people
from coming and taking their own life.
Because not only do you have people who jump,
that's the number one way peopld
up taking their life in parking decks.
But somebody might shoot themse,
hang themselves, use pills,
you know, slit their wrists.
Whatever the case may be,
So when I got that up,
the bill actually came from a
state senator in Massachusetts,
Senator Paul Feeney,
who saw my story in the Boston Herald.
And when he saw my story
in the Boston Herald,
he was moved to write a bill to
make it law in Massachusetts,
to have my suicide prevention signs in
every single parking deck in Massachusetts.
So when they I saw that,
they sent the bill to me and thI
sent it to Representative Cunningham,
Carla Cunningham,
who's also a big mental health d
suicide prevention advocate ande
was the one that filed the bill.
So I am very proud because I
have 10 parking decks already in
Charlotte from Novant.
To Atrium Health,
to Wake Forest's parking deck.
To the big parking deck across the street
from where the Panthers play the Legacy.
But that's not enough.
And it's it's very frustrating when you
go to parking decks and ask them to put
the signs up and they give you the same
excuse We'll find if we do it for you,
we have to do it for others.
But I'm not trying to get up
a sign that says eat at most,
I'm trying to get up a sign
that will save lives.
And it's also that stigma
that comes along with that.
Parking decks believe if
they put up those signs,
it's going to encourage people.
That's a myth.
If we talk about suicide, we can stop it.
As obvious as it's showing by my park,
my sons that are up in the Center City green,
that we've had no suicides in two years.
But we have a lot of parking decks in
Charlotte and across North Caro.
And we need those signs up to deter suicide,
but to also to help those
who are struggling reach out.
Get to call that phone,
you know?
Use their cell phone to call the
numbers that are on the sign and
get the help that they need to t
the journey of mental Wellness.
We you mentioned the journey tht
you've been on over the last few
decades for folks watching at h.
Some some might be struggling fr
you knowing that there this is
a multifactorial issue and that
there's no you know one way for.
What was the game changer in the
last 20 years that that that hae
been helped you in your progres.
What has helped me in my progress is #1A.
Mental health condition is
not a quick fix. It is not.
I was diagnosed with clinical depression,
a disease that is never going to go away.
And I think a lot of times people think,
you know, because this is the t,
we all have bad days when we get depressed.
We all have days that were full of anxiety.
But this is the thing with the
mental health condition if it
lasts for more than two weeks.
And it starts interfering
with your everyday life.
You need to go and see someone.
It is not going to go away.
If you had diabetes or hypertension and
didn't get help for what could happen.
Father Ryan, thanks for coming .
We do appreciate it.
Thank you for having me.
I appreciate it. All
right, take care, folks.
A reminder. If you or a loved
one has thoughts of suicide,
you can call the national suicide hotline.
That number is 988 More Flash one after this.