By COLE REIF
Great Bend Post
Through multiple partnerships and community effort the last two years, the bike campground in Great Bend continues to see improvements and added amenities. In the future, a new mural will be painted at the campground just north of the 10th Street and Harrison Street intersection, behind the Central Baptist Church.
The
new mural will include suicide prevention resources, along with biking and
information that the church wants painted on the shed. Holly Bowyer, with The Center for Counseling and Consultation, leads the Suicide Prevention Task Force with Central Kansas Partnership. Bowyer said the suicide
prevention resources are available in many forms for those in need.
"If anyone is not comfortable calling the National Suicide Hotline, there is a text line," said Bowyer. "741741. You can text with someone 24 hours a day. There are resources, whether they're local or national."
The campground accommodates bicyclists stopping through Great Bend with a charging station, picnic tables, porta-potty and a water well.
The Suicide
Prevention Task Force donated funding to have the suicide prevention hotline
listed near the water well. Bowyer said the task force is still looking for an
artist to paint the mural, but getting more people talking about mental health
is a positive step in suicide prevention.
"You always have people that are afraid others will see them going into an agency or think less of them," said Bowyer. "With more and more celebrities and other people talking about mental health and suicide prevention help the stigma has improved. I still think there are a lot of people that are afraid to reach out and don't know where to reach out."
The National Suicide Hotline is 1-800-273-8255 or text 741741.