{"id":19111,"date":"2025-11-13T08:15:02","date_gmt":"2025-11-13T13:15:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/?p=19111"},"modified":"2026-03-04T11:16:24","modified_gmt":"2026-03-04T16:16:24","slug":"advocate-for-healing-wilmu-student-champions-delawares-office-of-suicide-prevention","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/2025\/11\/13\/advocate-for-healing-wilmu-student-champions-delawares-office-of-suicide-prevention\/","title":{"rendered":"Advocate for Healing: WilmU Student Champions Delaware\u2019s Office of Suicide Prevention\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>.kadence-column19111_7b6ff0-47 > .kt-inside-inner-col{padding-right:var(--global-kb-spacing-lg, 3rem);padding-bottom:var(--global-kb-spacing-lg, 3rem);padding-left:var(--global-kb-spacing-lg, 3rem);}.kadence-column19111_7b6ff0-47 > .kt-inside-inner-col,.kadence-column19111_7b6ff0-47 > .kt-inside-inner-col:before{border-top-left-radius:0px;border-top-right-radius:0px;border-bottom-right-radius:0px;border-bottom-left-radius:0px;}.kadence-column19111_7b6ff0-47 > .kt-inside-inner-col{column-gap:var(--global-kb-gap-sm, 1rem);}.kadence-column19111_7b6ff0-47 > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;}.kadence-column19111_7b6ff0-47 > .kt-inside-inner-col > .aligncenter{width:100%;}.kadence-column19111_7b6ff0-47 > .kt-inside-inner-col:before{opacity:0.3;}.kadence-column19111_7b6ff0-47{position:relative;}@media all and (max-width: 1024px){.kadence-column19111_7b6ff0-47 > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;justify-content:center;}}@media all and (max-width: 991px){.kadence-column19111_7b6ff0-47 > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;justify-content:center;}}<\/style>\n<div class=\"wp-block-kadence-column kadence-column19111_7b6ff0-47\"><div class=\"kt-inside-inner-col\">\n<p>Every 11 minutes \u2014 that\u2019s how often an American died by suicide in 2023, according to the latest statistics from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It is a national health problem and a personal one for Wilmington University student <strong>Jennifer Antonik<\/strong>, who lost her husband, Ben, four years ago \u2014 when their children were 7, 10 and 11.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt makes my mama-bear heart angry that the state wasn\u2019t prepared to handle my children\u2019s trauma,\u201d she says. \u201cAnd anger is a very powerful motivator.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Suicide Loss Support\u00a0<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>To help other families, Antonik founded the nonprofit <a href=\"https:\/\/djsalliance.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">DJ\u2019s Alliance<\/a> and then lobbied lawmakers to establish Delaware\u2019s new Office of Suicide Prevention.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cUntil Jennifer Antonik and her colleagues set about creating the movement that led to legislation to create the new Office of Suicide Prevention, Delaware was the only state without an official state entity to provide support to families who lost loved ones to suicide,\u201d says <strong>Dr. Johanna Bishop<\/strong>, WilmU\u2019s director of Behavioral Science programs. It \u201cwill provide much-needed education in recognizing the red flags, build communication skills to connect with those in need, and create programs to bring suicide awareness.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Antonik, who\u2019s finishing dual bachelor\u2019s degrees in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wilmu.edu\/behavioralscience\/behavioral-science-curriculum.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Behavioral Science<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wilmu.edu\/technology\/comm.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Communication<\/a> while working toward an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wilmu.edu\/behavioralscience\/professional-studies-master.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">M.S. in Professional Studies<\/a>, appreciates Dr. Bishop\u2019s encouragement and guidance.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI can\u2019t speak highly enough about Dr. Bishop,\u201d Antonik says. \u201cShe has supported us every step of the way.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Suicide Postvention\u00a0<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>As for the next steps, Antonik talks about \u201cbigger things to come,\u201d explaining \u201cwe\u2019re actually on the precipice of launching a national strategy.\u201d She believes \u201cpostvention is prevention,\u201d noting that \u201csuicide loss survivors are 65% more likely to attempt suicide than our peers who grieve other kinds of losses.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Office of Suicide Prevention \u201cwill save lives,\u201d says Delaware Rep. <strong>Eric Morrison<\/strong>, who introduced the bill. \u201cAnd I could not be more grateful to have had a hand in its creation.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe work that we\u2019ve done is a testament that anyone, anywhere, can make a difference,\u201d Antonik says, adding that \u201cit\u2019s really hard, and we just hope we get to make it easier for someone else.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>If you or someone you care about is in need of postvention services or you would like to learn more about the advocates for Delaware\u2019s Office of Suicide Prevention, please visit <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/djsalliance.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em>DJ&#8217;s Alliance<\/em><\/a><em>, which recently received the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Delaware branch\u2019s Simon and Jill Shute Advocacy Award.<\/em>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n<style>.kb-row-layout-wrap.wp-block-kadence-rowlayout.kb-row-layout-id19111_8059fe-2b{margin-top:0em;}.kb-row-layout-id19111_8059fe-2b > .kt-row-column-wrap{align-content:center;}:where(.kb-row-layout-id19111_8059fe-2b > .kt-row-column-wrap) > .wp-block-kadence-column{justify-content:center;}.kb-row-layout-id19111_8059fe-2b > .kt-row-column-wrap{column-gap:var(--global-kb-gap-none, 0rem );row-gap:var(--global-kb-gap-none, 0rem );max-width:var( --global-content-width, 1290px );padding-left:var(--global-content-edge-padding);padding-right:var(--global-content-edge-padding);padding-top:0em;padding-right:0em;padding-bottom:0em;padding-left:0em;grid-template-columns:minmax(0, 1fr) minmax(0, 2fr);}.kb-row-layout-id19111_8059fe-2b{border-top:1px solid #eeeeee;border-right:1px solid #eeeeee;border-bottom:1px solid #eeeeee;}.kb-row-layout-id19111_8059fe-2b > .kt-row-layout-overlay{opacity:0.30;}@media all and (max-width: 1024px){.kb-row-layout-id19111_8059fe-2b > .kt-row-column-wrap{grid-template-columns:minmax(0, 1fr) minmax(0, 2fr);}}@media all and (max-width: 1024px){.kb-row-layout-id19111_8059fe-2b{border-top:1px solid #eeeeee;border-right:1px solid #eeeeee;border-bottom:1px solid #eeeeee;}}@media all and (max-width: 991px){.kb-row-layout-id19111_8059fe-2b > .kt-row-column-wrap{grid-template-columns:minmax(0, 1fr);}.kb-row-layout-id19111_8059fe-2b{border-top:1px solid #eeeeee;border-right:1px solid #eeeeee;border-bottom:1px solid #eeeeee;}}.wu-text-col,.wu-img-col {\tmin-height: 114px;}.wu-text-col &gt; 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Wilmington University\u2019s <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wilmu.edu\/behavioralscience\/behavsci.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em>Behavioral Science<\/em><\/a><em> degree program trains leaders and problem-solvers to work in business, education, government, human services and nonprofits.\u00a0<\/em>\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Every 11 minutes \u2014 that\u2019s how often an American died by suicide in 2023, according to the latest statistics from the U.S. Centers for Disease&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":19112,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[145],"tags":[90,1045,14,15],"class_list":["post-19111","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni-news","tag-college-of-social-and-behavioral-sciences","tag-human-services-degrees","tag-wilmington-university","tag-wilmu"],"acf":[],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":145,"label":"ALUMNI NEWS"}],"post_tag":[{"value":90,"label":"College of Social and Behavioral Sciences"},{"value":1045,"label":"human services degrees"},{"value":14,"label":"Wilmington University"},{"value":15,"label":"WilmU"}]},"featured_image_src_large":["https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Delaware-Office-of-Suicide-Prevention-480x480.jpg",480,480,true],"author_info":{"display_name":"Mckayla Imperatrice","author_link":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/author\/mckayla\/"},"comment_info":0,"category_info":[{"term_id":145,"name":"ALUMNI NEWS","slug":"alumni-news","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":702,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":113,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":145,"category_count":113,"category_description":"","cat_name":"ALUMNI NEWS","category_nicename":"alumni-news","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":[{"term_id":90,"name":"College of Social and Behavioral Sciences","slug":"college-of-social-and-behavioral-sciences","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":647,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":71,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":1045,"name":"human services degrees","slug":"human-services-degrees","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":1602,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":5,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":14,"name":"Wilmington University","slug":"wilmington-university","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":571,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":357,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":15,"name":"WilmU","slug":"wilmu","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":572,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":291,"filter":"raw"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19111","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19111"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19111\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19113,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19111\/revisions\/19113"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19112"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19111"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19111"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19111"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}