Mission

Our mission is to be dedicated to helping those people who have tragically lost someone to suicide while working to reduce the incidence of suicide within our community, through available education, awareness, and prevention services.

Purpose (Goals)

The Front Porch Coalition is guide by five goals, which are based on the National Strategy for Suicide Prevention and the South Dakota Strategy for Suicide Prevention:

1. Provide education at every level about suicide prevention and its causes.
2. Improve services to survivors of suicide (people who have lost a loved one to suicide).
3. Facilitate collaboration among caregivers who work in mental health and suicide prevention and treatment to reduce suicide and the impact of its causes.
4. Create public awareness of the incidence of suicide to prevent suicide, reduce the impact of its causes, and improve the support to survivors of suicide.
5. Create public awareness on the need for mental health care that will effectively create appropriate help-seeking behaviors that will reduce the incidence of suicide.

Long-term Goal

Expand the services and programs provided by the Front Porch Coalition throughout the five counties in the Black Hills (Pennington, Meade, Lawrence, Custer, Fall River) within the next five years and throughout Western South Dakota and Eastern Wyoming within the next ten years. 

Organizational Values

The Front Porch Coalition provides services in a manner which are confidential and professional without any form of stigma that still surrounds suicide and mental health.

Who We Are

We are a grassroots, community-based organization working to prevent the incidence of suicide while providing support to those who have lost a loved one to suicide. The organization provides services to the Rapid City community and the immediate surrounding Black Hills area.

Advocates for Families and Friends after Suicide

We are volunteers - survivors ourselves of a loss to suicide as well as community caregivers - who have come together to offer support, guidance, comfort, and assistance to those who have lost a loved one to suicide. Our services are free. To be contacted by an advocacy team member from Rapid City, click here.