'Signs of hope' on Long Island stores alert those on the edge how to reach out for help

Meryl Cassidy and her colleagues save dozens of lives a day, every day of the year.

Her team at the Response Crisis Center in Stony Brook works 24/7 to counsel potentially suicidal Long Islanders by phone and text.

Now, Cassidy and other Long Island suicide prevention advocates are lauding a new effort — the installation of hundreds of 12-by-18-inch metal signs on Long Island that alert more people to the lifesaving power of crisis hotlines.

In four dozen shopping centers across Long Island — including Carle Place’s Parkway Plaza, The Shops at Riverhead and Bridgehampton Commons — the blue signs will tell Long Islanders they can dial 988 for a national suicide and crisis hotline that will route them to local crisis counselors based on area code.

The installations are part of a nationwide initiative to place 8,400 “Signs of HOPE” in 1,450 shopping centers in 40 states over the next year — and, hopefully, save lives. The national hotline is funded by the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

“It's actually a sign of tremendous strength to reach out for help when you need it,” said Cassidy, the center’s executive director, which fielded over 100,000 calls, chats and texts from Suffolk County and beyond in 2022.

The signs are already posted on Long Island. At Stewart Plaza in Garden City, they went up on a third of all parking lot light posts. Shoppers there said the notices were their first opportunity to learn about 988.

“Instead of giving them an 800 number or something they have to look up, knowing that there’s a 988 number, it’s even better,” said Ivonne Otavalo, of Freeport, as she was entering Floor & Decor in Stewart Plaza.

The national number was created in July of last year after federal health officials approved a $280 million measure to make reaching emergency health counselors as easy as dialing 911. In May, Gov. Kathy Hochul put $60 million toward the program as it entered its second year.

The recent initiative comes as data shows Americans are increasingly struggling with mental health, and the pandemic exacerbated those challenges.

About one in five adult Americans experienced mental illness in 2021, according to the National Alliance of Mental Illness, and one in 20 experienced serious mental illness that same year. Suicides, and particularly teen suicides, have also risen sharply in Suffolk County, Newsday has reported.

“Our mission is to create centers of the communities we serve, and there's no higher use than using our shopping centers to address such a common community issue,” said Kristen Moore of Brixmor Property Group, which owns Stewart Plaza.

Moore spearheaded the sign display and encouraged six peer commercial real estate companies to join the effort in what she said was an “unusual” show of unity in a hypercompetitive industry.

The companies are spending a combined $479,000 to install the signs on a portfolio of properties that sees a combined 251 million visitors annually and lies within five miles of 42% of the U.S. population.

Silvano Venier, 61, who was grabbing a slice of pizza from Pizza Supreme in Stewart Plaza, said he was glad to see the signs installed.

“There's a lot of people on the edge of suicide, and they don't know where to get the help,” said Venier, of South Farmingdale. “People that are contemplating suicide, they'll see it, they'll know and hopefully they'll use it so they don't waste their life.”