By Illinois Review
For decades, affluent communities in the Chicagoland area have experienced intermittent spikes in suicides among high school students, leaving in it’s wake a path of devastation that lasts generations.
In a span of just three years beginning in 2007, five Barrington High School students took their own lives – and the impact of those deaths still affect members of the community even to this day.
In 2012, 22 miles from Barrington, two Lake Forest High School students took their own lives in the span of one semester – leaving the community, parents, students and school officials in shock and utter disbelief.
But the teen suicide epidemic was proving to be much larger than anyone expected in the Chicagoland suburbs. And just a few years prior to the devastation that was about to rock Barrington starting in 2007 and Lake Forest in 2012, communities in St. Charles, Naperville and Elgin were already experiencing an unprecedented uptick in youth suicides.
And while nothing can be more traumatic or painful than the death of a child or teenager, our nation’s veterans continue to take their own lives at an alarming rate as well.
In 2020, it was reported that 6,146 veterans took their own lives – that’s nearly 17 suicides every single day for an entire year amongst our veteran population. For many experts, they believe that number is actually higher – with some estimating that the number is actually between 18 and 20 per day. In other words, there’s a veteran committing suicide every 90 minutes in America.
While suicide is the leading cause of death amongst young people in America, the pandemic certainly made matters a lot worse. In the first year of the pandemic, in the midst of lockdowns and stay-at-home orders and the cancellation of in-person classes, 5,568 teenagers took their own lives – marking a significant and dramatic increase since before the pandemic.
In Chicago, police officers continue to struggle with mental health issues as a result of high crime, lack of political support, understaffed departments and an increasingly hostile community and work environment – and officers are choosing to take their own lives at a rate that’s triple then in previous years. In 2022 alone, 7 Chicago Police officers died by suicide – that’s more than 2020 and 2021 combined according to the Illinois Answers Project.
Over the weekend, Black and Right Radio host John Anthony, whose 18-year old son, John Wesley Christian Anthony, tragically and unexpectedly took his own life on November 8, 2021 – invited Barrington resident Chase Heidner on the show to talk about the suicide prevention organization Project H.O.P.E. House in Barrington, which stands for Helping Open People’s Eyes and Hang On – Pain Ends.
H.O.P.E. House was created to address the epidemic of suicides plaguing the Barrington community – going back to 2007 and beyond.
Heidner also shared a personal story that when she was 7 years old, Nicole, their 18-year old family babysitter took her own life, and the event changed their lives forever. It also inspired Chase to pursue a degree in Psychology at DePaul University.
But the death of the Heidner family’s babysitter was just the beginning – and since then, Chase, her parents and siblings, and the entire Barrington High School community have had to bury more friends and classmates then they would have ever imagined.
And in response to all of the loss and tragedy, H.O.P.E. House was founded, and Ray Paigentini, who served as a Barrington High School staff member and guidance counselor for 32 years, runs the organization. Rick Heidner and his family, who have an extensive real estate portfolio, including the home that serves as the H.O.P.E. House headquarters, partnered with Paigentini and they cover all the household related expenses – freeing up the organization to direct funding and resources to the mission itself.
On February 4, 2024, H.O.P.E. is hosting an Open House to raise awareness about mental health and provide valuable information about suicide prevention.
H.O.P.E. assists teenagers, veterans and first responders – but all are welcome. As Thomas Keneally, the Australian novelist and playwright said, “Whoever saves one life, saves the world entire.”
