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Scranton woman's last wish for mental health awareness
WNEP TV October 5, 2024 Newswatch 16's Valeria Quiñones attended the annual 5Kate run in Nay Aug Park to honor Katie Shoener and raise awareness for those struggling with mental illness. |
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SCRANTON, LACKAWANNA COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) - March 2022
Suicide is the second-leading cause of death among people 10-34 years old, according to the CDC. During the pandemic, the CDC reports teenage emergency visits from suicide attempts increased significantly, with a 50 percent rise in female cases, and a four percent increase in male cases. A 2019 youth risk behavior survey shows almost 19 percent of high school students considered attempting suicide and nearly nine percent actually attempted taking their own lives. When Katie died, the Shoeners relied on their faith to cope with their loss. Now they’ve turned their grief into helping others who suffer from mental illness by offering free support groups at St. Peter’s Cathedral in Scranton. |
5Kate Public Service Announcement - WNEP TV/ABC - October 2022
Katie Foundation makes donation to Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine’s Behavioral Health Initiative
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August 1, 2022 - The Katie Foundation announced it has made a $15,000 gift to Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine’s Behavioral Health Initiative (BHI). The Katie Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to improving treatment and service for people coping with mental illness, raised the funds at its annual 5Kate. (Read More)
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The Sixth Annual 5Kate Run/Walk and Mental Health Fair - October 2021
A great community awareness event that "Shined a Light on Mental Illness" despite a cloudy and rainy day
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The Fifth Annual 5Kate
October 2020 - Walking for mental health awareness during the pandemic
SCRANTON, Pa. — Family and friends of a woman from Scranton who died by suicide in 2016 gathered at Nay Aug Park for a walk in her memory.
The annual event is known as "5-Kate" for Kate Shoener and has become a fundraiser for mental health awareness.
The walk was smaller this year due to Covid, but the organizers say the pandemic has made their mission even more important.
"It warms my heart to see that people are still caring and still supporting us. But it's become more than Katie now, right? This is about everyone that's suffering from mental illness. It truly warms our heart that we were able to use her story to make all of this awareness," said Sarah Shoener, Kate's sister-in-law.
People who were unable to attend the walk-in person in Scranton participated virtually.
The annual event is known as "5-Kate" for Kate Shoener and has become a fundraiser for mental health awareness.
The walk was smaller this year due to Covid, but the organizers say the pandemic has made their mission even more important.
"It warms my heart to see that people are still caring and still supporting us. But it's become more than Katie now, right? This is about everyone that's suffering from mental illness. It truly warms our heart that we were able to use her story to make all of this awareness," said Sarah Shoener, Kate's sister-in-law.
People who were unable to attend the walk-in person in Scranton participated virtually.
The Fourth Annual 5 Kate
October 2019 - A Beautiful Autumn Day
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Katie Foundation makes donation to Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine’s Behavioral Health Initiative
Gift will be used to teach community members to identify people at risk for depression, anxiety, suicide and substance abuse
(April 2019) The Katie Foundation announced it has made a $15,000 gift. The donation will be used to purchase licenses for an online simulation to teach students, health providers and community members to identify individuals at high risk for depression, anxiety, suicide and substance abuse. The BHI plans to purchase 600 licenses to be used over a three-year period with a goal of educating 200 people per year.
(April 2019) The Katie Foundation announced it has made a $15,000 gift. The donation will be used to purchase licenses for an online simulation to teach students, health providers and community members to identify individuals at high risk for depression, anxiety, suicide and substance abuse. The BHI plans to purchase 600 licenses to be used over a three-year period with a goal of educating 200 people per year.
We had a great time participating in the Scranton 2019 St. Patrick’s Day Parade!
The best part was those of you who quietly mouthed the words “thank you”. That is exactly why we do what we do. So we say THANK YOU to all if you who share your stories and help "Shine a Light on Mental Illness". You are ALWAYS in our hearts and on our minds.
THANK YOU! To all who attended the 3rd Annual 5Kate on October 20, 2018
Our hearts are full. We want you all to know two things:
1. Unmask yourself, you can be who you are and we will love you no matter what.
2. Take home a big hug from us all and remember that we are here when you are struggling. Always.
Our hearts are full. We want you all to know two things:
1. Unmask yourself, you can be who you are and we will love you no matter what.
2. Take home a big hug from us all and remember that we are here when you are struggling. Always.
Third Annual 5Kate Race to Raise Awareness of Depression in Scranton
October 20, 2018
SCRANTON, Pa. — Raising awareness of depression and bipolar disorder was the aim of a Halloween themed event at Nay Aug Park in the Electric City. Close to 200 people turned out to walk or run for The Katie Foundation. The 5K is named for Katie Shoener, who lost her battle with depression in 2016.
At the start of Saturday’s race, organizers had everyone toss Halloween masks into the air. They say it’s to show mental health is not something to be covered up.
“So many people feel like they have to wear this mask every day and they can’t be who they really are and that they have to put on a face and we want people to know they don’t have to do that,” said Sarah Shoener, Katie’s sister-in-law. Pamphlets dealing with mental health and music therapy were available at the run in Scranton.
At the start of Saturday’s race, organizers had everyone toss Halloween masks into the air. They say it’s to show mental health is not something to be covered up.
“So many people feel like they have to wear this mask every day and they can’t be who they really are and that they have to put on a face and we want people to know they don’t have to do that,” said Sarah Shoener, Katie’s sister-in-law. Pamphlets dealing with mental health and music therapy were available at the run in Scranton.
Katie’s sister-in-law and local mental health professional, Sarah Shoener, remembers the love Katie had for her family, her friends and her nieces and nephews. She says that Katie was “a party planner at heart,” someone who loved to bake and loved to read. In Sarah’s words she was “enthusiastic and personable.”
After Katie’s passing in August 2016, the obituary her father wrote went viral, and her friends decided to take action in her memory. They planned a 5K to raise money for local mental health resources. Not only was Halloween Katie’s birthday, but she really loved it. So it was decided that the event would take place then.
For the organization, it’s all about building awareness to help those who are struggling with mental illness. As Sarah explains, “People need to realize that it’s not their fault, there is support out there, and you don’t have to do this alone.”
Click Here to read the entire Happening Magazine Article
After Katie’s passing in August 2016, the obituary her father wrote went viral, and her friends decided to take action in her memory. They planned a 5K to raise money for local mental health resources. Not only was Halloween Katie’s birthday, but she really loved it. So it was decided that the event would take place then.
For the organization, it’s all about building awareness to help those who are struggling with mental illness. As Sarah explains, “People need to realize that it’s not their fault, there is support out there, and you don’t have to do this alone.”
Click Here to read the entire Happening Magazine Article
Will we finally end the silence around suicide?
By Petula Dvorak Columnist June 11, 2018
About 123 people die of it every day, but we still don’t want to talk about it. Those left behind often don’t receive casseroles or cards, flowers or fundraisers, hugs or visits.
The obituaries, too, are evasive, resorting to euphemisms such as “died in his home” or “died suddenly.”
Unless it’s Kate Spade or Anthony Bourdain. Finally, an opening to talk about suicide.
It remains in the shadows. Some families are trying to change that. Like the folks who’ve made news by publishing honest and detailed obituaries about the deaths of loved ones ravaged by the opioid epidemic, others are doing the same with suicide.
“No one came up to me or Ruth and said, ‘I’m so sorry.’ If she’d gotten in an accident they would have said kind things, but now everyone knew and no one looked at us, like it was a character flaw,” Ed Shoener told my colleague Colby Itkowitz in 2016, after his daughter Katie had killed herself and he decided to write an obituary that detailed her struggle with mental illness.
“We felt shamed,” Shoener said. “We felt like maybe we weren’t good parents. They didn’t know what to say. As a society we don’t know how to talk to each other about this. We don’t have a language for how to talk about mental illness.”
Click Here to read the entire Washington Post Article
The obituaries, too, are evasive, resorting to euphemisms such as “died in his home” or “died suddenly.”
Unless it’s Kate Spade or Anthony Bourdain. Finally, an opening to talk about suicide.
It remains in the shadows. Some families are trying to change that. Like the folks who’ve made news by publishing honest and detailed obituaries about the deaths of loved ones ravaged by the opioid epidemic, others are doing the same with suicide.
“No one came up to me or Ruth and said, ‘I’m so sorry.’ If she’d gotten in an accident they would have said kind things, but now everyone knew and no one looked at us, like it was a character flaw,” Ed Shoener told my colleague Colby Itkowitz in 2016, after his daughter Katie had killed herself and he decided to write an obituary that detailed her struggle with mental illness.
“We felt shamed,” Shoener said. “We felt like maybe we weren’t good parents. They didn’t know what to say. As a society we don’t know how to talk to each other about this. We don’t have a language for how to talk about mental illness.”
Click Here to read the entire Washington Post Article
From left: Keith Loughney, administrative assistant for the Behavioral Health Initiative (BHI); Terri Lacey, RN, executive director of the BHI; Ed Shoener; Sarah Shoener; Jane A. Kanyock, MBA, CFRE, director of Corporate and Foundation Relations; Sarah Schreiber, MD Class of 2020; Patra Sayani, MD Class of 2020; and Katya Malykina, MD Class of 2020
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Ed’s desire to “shine a light on mental illness,” coupled with the determination of Katie’s friends to honor her memory, gave birth to The Katie Foundation. “Katie’s friends laid the groundwork for the foundation in 2016 with a 5K run they planned to host around Katie’s birthday — Oct. 31,” said Sarah Shoener, Katie’s sister-in-law and treasurer of The Katie Foundation. “We agreed to help them. Then the obit went viral and we realized that this is so needed. There is so much good we can do.”
“This is why I like the affiliation with the medical school,” Ed said. “Mental illness is like any other illness, and Geisinger Commonwealth deals with it that way — it doesn’t place it apart from other healthcare. Plus, the school emphasizes interprofessional education. In Katie’s case, I don’t think the hospitals, therapists, psychiatrists and general practitioners communicated amongst themselves as well as they could.” Sarah said she believes working with medical students will further Katie’s message in ways other foundation work can’t. “The students are young and know what it’s like to live in a world where people feel they have to be perfect. If this generation will be open about mental illness and share, we can do great things together. We can change the world.” |
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Hidden rocks in Scranton aim to raise suicide awareness
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Volunteers attached the nonprofit's logo with a barcode on the rocks and hid them throughout the city. Shoener got the idea after seeing other communities hide "kindness rocks" to brighten a person's day. The hope is that people will find these rocks and scan them to learn more about Katie and mental health resources in the community.
"A lot of the issues with depression start a little younger now with the bullying and social media and we have to start using that to our advantage," said Kelly Barrett, the president of the Katie Foundation
If you find a stone, you're asked to take a picture of yourself with it and share it on Facebook for a chance to win a prize. The Katie Foundation is also hosting a "5-k" costume run next month to raise awareness and funds for suicide prevention.
A portion of the proceeds will go to the Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine's Behavioral Health Initiative. Leaders here plan on using the funds to strengthen their efforts to fight mental illness.
"A potential focus right here at the medical school is that some people don't realize but medical students are very high risk of suicide," said Terri Lacey, the executive director, of the Behavioral Health Initiative.
Through the social media campaign and the upcoming race, this community is hoping to have a large impact.
The race is October 28th at Nay Aug Park in Scranton.
"A lot of the issues with depression start a little younger now with the bullying and social media and we have to start using that to our advantage," said Kelly Barrett, the president of the Katie Foundation
If you find a stone, you're asked to take a picture of yourself with it and share it on Facebook for a chance to win a prize. The Katie Foundation is also hosting a "5-k" costume run next month to raise awareness and funds for suicide prevention.
A portion of the proceeds will go to the Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine's Behavioral Health Initiative. Leaders here plan on using the funds to strengthen their efforts to fight mental illness.
"A potential focus right here at the medical school is that some people don't realize but medical students are very high risk of suicide," said Terri Lacey, the executive director, of the Behavioral Health Initiative.
Through the social media campaign and the upcoming race, this community is hoping to have a large impact.
The race is October 28th at Nay Aug Park in Scranton.
Katie Foundation Supports the "Let's Stop Suicide" Initiative
November 15, 2017
Mission: The Let’s Stop Suicide prevention and education program is designed to increase awareness, decrease stigma, engage our community, and offer solutions to reduce suicides in Lackawanna County and beyond.
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Event shines light on problem of suicide, need for prevention, education
By Geri Gibbons - Times Leader | May 8th, 2017
Geri Gibbons | For Times Leader
Deacon Ed Shoener addresses attendees of the fifth annual Help Stop the Silence Walk to Prevent Suicide, sharing his own story of the loss of his daughter to suicide this past August.
HAZLETON — Samantha Neaman told attendees of the fifth annual Help Stop the Silence Walk against Suicide on Sunday that every time one of her children doesn’t answer the phone on the first ring or doesn’t immediately respond to a text, she fears that they may be dead.
Neaman attributes her fear to the loss of her son, Kyle Koslop, to suicide in 2007. He was just 13.
She said her son was academically and socially successful. She did not see any signs that he would take his own life.
Now, she is reaching out to others through the annual walk and other activities throughout the year, to raise not only money but awareness about the problem of suicide among young people.
The annual event is sponsored by the Hazleton Area High School SADD Club and Help STOP the Silence Suicide Prevention and Support, a program of Catholic Social Services.
She encouraged over 200 attendees to invade the privacy of their children in an effort to find out what they were feeling, to hug them and tell them they are loved, and most of all, she urged listeners to be kind to others.
Neaman said her son Kyle’s shoes remain unfilled as a reminder of his life.
Deacon Ed Shoener, of the Dioceses of Scranton, lost his daughter to suicide this past August.
Shoener, a strong advocate for those with mental illness, told of his daughter graduating from Scranton High School and going on to receive a bachelor’s degree in business from Penn State and an MBA from Ohio State University.
Those with mental illness can lead successful lives, he said, with the help of therapy and medication.
Katie Shoener’s first attempted suicide was during the Spring of her senior year, he said. Medications and treatment gave her 12 more years to be part of her family, to live her life.
Still, he said, the stigma must be removed from mental illness for society to successfully address the issue.
“It’s suggested that every year or two we get a ‘check up from the neck up,’” he said. “People need to fearlessly address mental illness, just like any other disease like cancer or diabetes.”
Shoener said he intuitively felt a strong need to write his daughter’s obituary shortly after her death letting people know that she died from suicide and had battled bi-polar disease.
He said when the obituary “went viral,” he heard from people as far away as Italy who had family members lost to suicide.
Despite great pain and sadness, Shoener and his wife Ruth, want to use their own experience to educate others about suicide, working to remove the stigma and encouraging improved health care for those with mental illness.
At the conclusion of the presentation, walkers were able to choose between walking outside or indoors because of rain that continued throughout the afternoon.
Most chose to walk indoors, with the weather unable to quash their commitment to removing the stigma of suicide from society, making treatment for mental illness readily available and building support systems for those who are suffering.
Other social service agencies were also available at the event to provide both information and inspiration for attendees.
Neaman lauded over 100 volunteers, clad in orange shirts, who “from beginning to end” again made success of the event possible.
Neaman attributes her fear to the loss of her son, Kyle Koslop, to suicide in 2007. He was just 13.
She said her son was academically and socially successful. She did not see any signs that he would take his own life.
Now, she is reaching out to others through the annual walk and other activities throughout the year, to raise not only money but awareness about the problem of suicide among young people.
The annual event is sponsored by the Hazleton Area High School SADD Club and Help STOP the Silence Suicide Prevention and Support, a program of Catholic Social Services.
She encouraged over 200 attendees to invade the privacy of their children in an effort to find out what they were feeling, to hug them and tell them they are loved, and most of all, she urged listeners to be kind to others.
Neaman said her son Kyle’s shoes remain unfilled as a reminder of his life.
Deacon Ed Shoener, of the Dioceses of Scranton, lost his daughter to suicide this past August.
Shoener, a strong advocate for those with mental illness, told of his daughter graduating from Scranton High School and going on to receive a bachelor’s degree in business from Penn State and an MBA from Ohio State University.
Those with mental illness can lead successful lives, he said, with the help of therapy and medication.
Katie Shoener’s first attempted suicide was during the Spring of her senior year, he said. Medications and treatment gave her 12 more years to be part of her family, to live her life.
Still, he said, the stigma must be removed from mental illness for society to successfully address the issue.
“It’s suggested that every year or two we get a ‘check up from the neck up,’” he said. “People need to fearlessly address mental illness, just like any other disease like cancer or diabetes.”
Shoener said he intuitively felt a strong need to write his daughter’s obituary shortly after her death letting people know that she died from suicide and had battled bi-polar disease.
He said when the obituary “went viral,” he heard from people as far away as Italy who had family members lost to suicide.
Despite great pain and sadness, Shoener and his wife Ruth, want to use their own experience to educate others about suicide, working to remove the stigma and encouraging improved health care for those with mental illness.
At the conclusion of the presentation, walkers were able to choose between walking outside or indoors because of rain that continued throughout the afternoon.
Most chose to walk indoors, with the weather unable to quash their commitment to removing the stigma of suicide from society, making treatment for mental illness readily available and building support systems for those who are suffering.
Other social service agencies were also available at the event to provide both information and inspiration for attendees.
Neaman lauded over 100 volunteers, clad in orange shirts, who “from beginning to end” again made success of the event possible.