By Aidan Mortensen | KOAL News
Looking to address ongoing crises across Utah and in the Castle Country Area, Utah State University HEART Extension, the Southeastern Utah Health Department and Four Corners Behavioral Health have teamed up to present the 2025 rendition of the Elevating Hope Summit, which will be held on the campus of USU Eastern from March 19 through March 21.
The KOAL Newsroom was joined by Dr. Ashley Yaugher from HEART and Suicide Prevention Liason Amanda McIntosh from Four Corners to speak on the event and get the public excited to elevate hope.
Opening the conversation, Yaugher explained what attendees can expect from the event,” Attendees can expect to learn something new and leave with a renewed sense of hope in the fight against a substance use disorder and suicide prevention because these issues are so interconnected. We wanted to highlight those this year at the summit.”
McIntosh added to this, stating,” I think in the state of Utah, these are very hot topics to have in substance use and suicide prevention. Everybody is very concerned about these and what’s being done to combat the stigmas associated with those two public health concerns and the money allocated to put programming into place and implement programs. And so what’s important about the Elevating Hope Summit is that we are bringing it back down to the state level where we can really impact our local communities.”
The summit will feature guest speakers to highlight these issues on both the statewide and local levels, educating those in attendance on the varying perspectives surrounding substance use and suicide.
“I think that everybody is going to have information that is valuable and that you’re going to leave with more knowledge than you came in with,” explained McIntosh. “On a personal level, I am extremely excited to have Sarah Gaer come. She is our keynote speaker, and she will be traveling from the east. She does so much work in suicide prevention, law enforcement, and other things like that.”
Dr. Yaugher also discussed the speakers attending the conference:” We have people coming from all across the state of Utah who are experts in grief support, advocacy, and using your voice for suicide and substance use disorder prevention. We have people with expertise in these areas who can talk about these two issues, the gaps, and how we can fill those gaps and really make some meaningful changes.”
The event kicks off at 7:30 a.m. on Wednesday, March 19, with a law enforcement pre-conference,” We’re going to serve our the participants breakfast, and Sarah Gaer will go into this training called ‘Psychological First-Aid,’ which is perfect for our first responders and law enforcement,” said McIntosh.” It deals with critical responses and trauma responses and how they can take care of themselves again but also process the trauma that they encounter in the workplace. She will also talk about compassion fatigue and burnout with them.”
Speaking on the main conference, Yaugher shared,” We kick both days off with breakfast at 7:30 a.m. and then we go into our various presentations and talks during the summit, including a talk about right how these issues are connected how substance use disorder prevention and suicide prevention are so interconnected and how we can be compassionate but also advocate for things like right support and how we can ask for help how we can take care of ourselves as professionals or people working in the field.”
She continued,” On the second day, Friday, March 21, we actually will break out into two symposia, one for substance use disorder and one for suicide prevention. So we’ll talk more specifically about each of these issues before ending the summit on Friday afternoon. We’re going to have some closing remarks and an opportunity drawing too so we’re not only going to be giving information, we’ll also be giving people amazing swag bags, breakfast and lunch each day.”
Registration for the event is currently open and is available on Eventbrite or through the USU HEART Extension website. Single-day admission costs $40, and a two-day registration runs $75. Discounted prices are available for students at $30, and scholarships are also available by contacting Yaugher at ashley.yaugher@usu.edu.
In closing, McIntosh stated,” We hope that you’ll come and join us and leave a little bit more elevated and fully charged and full of hope. Thanks for the support in all the work that we’re doing.”
The Elevating Hope Summit will be held on the campus of USU Eastern from March 19 through March 21. Registration is available until the morning of March 21 and is open on Eventbrite.