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HENDERSON, Ky. — When a suicide occurs in Henderson, Union or Webster counties, the first call often goes to law enforcement or the coroner.
The second increasingly goes to Infinite Hope.
What You Need To Know
Infinite Hope, a volunteer-led nonprofit in Henderson, Union and Webster counties, supports families immediately after a suicide, including arranging and helping pay for professional biohazard cleanup
The group’s trained HOPE Team responds to scenes, helps with funeral/cremation decisions, covers one major financial need per family and follows up for months
Law enforcement leaders said Infinite Hope eases the burden on deputies and coroners, who must investigate deaths while trying to support grieving families
The organization is entirely volunteer-run, funded by donors and events like the Bourbon for Hope fundraiser
The small volunteer group of suicide-loss survivors responds with something many families desperately need but know nothing about: immediate help to clean up the scene of the suicide.
The organization began as an informal support group around 2018 and received its nonprofit certification in 2020. It now fields a trained HOPE Team that responds to scenes, offers guidance on funerals and cremations, provides one major financial need per family and follows up with survivors for months.
Board member and treasurer Helen Posey, who also serves on the HOPE Team, said the group’s mission is simple: make sure no one has to go through it alone.
“Infinite Hope is a group of just community members who have experienced suicide loss or have a connection to it or just want to help other people that are experiencing this,” Posey said.
One of the most essential services Infinite Hope offers is biohazard cleanup. Many families have no idea how to handle the aftermath or who to call.
“We are offering cleanup because you may need a biohazard cleanup,” Posey said. “Most people have no idea what that even means.”
The group connects families with professional biohazard teams and can help pay for the cleanup, along with funeral or cremation costs, usually covering one major need per family.
Posey’s own son, Stuart Posey, died by suicide Aug. 13, 2011. There was no HOPE Team then, and she had to handle the aftermath without help.
“If we can protect anybody in the family from having to see that, deal with it and try to clean it up themselves, we’re going to do it,” she said. “We’re going to protect.”
Now, when the coroner or a deputy introduces her at a scene as “a survivor,” Posey said the reaction is immediate.
“Even if they’re sitting there with their head down on the table crying, that head will pop up and they will look me dead in the eye,” she said. “It’s like all of a sudden, they have a connection with me because they know I know what they know now.”
The group also hands out two information packets: one for adults and one for children that includes the book “My Grief is Like the Ocean.”
Henderson County Sheriff Chip Stauffer sits on Infinite Hope’s board. He said the organization has changed how his deputies handle suicide calls.
Law enforcement must investigate the death while trying to support devastated families who are suddenly asked about funeral homes, insurance and cleanup — decisions they have never considered.
“I realized pretty quickly that law enforcement is asked to do a lot of things and wear many hats,” Stauffer said. “And on suicides, they’re trying to investigate as well as assist family members. Really, that’s not a hat that we’re comfortable wearing.”
When Infinite Hope arrives, he said “it takes a burden off law enforcement and first responders.”
Stauffer was not previously familiar with the group. He got involved after founder Cindy Weaver reached out following his 2023 election.
A suicide call shortly afterward showed him how much the group was needed.
“When I learned about Infinite Hope and the services they provided, I thought, ‘Man, this is going to be great because it takes a burden off law enforcement,’” he said.
Becky Johnson lost her oldest son, Ryan, on Oct. 1, 2018. She said the absence of such support made her own experience far harder.
Her husband found Ryan at their home. Officers who responded were people she knew from her work as principal of Henderson’s largest middle school.
“It felt very odd that day because they were asking me questions about where have you been,” Johnson said. “It felt somewhat like an interrogation.”
Johnson is not on the board but calls Infinite Hope her “passion project.” She is not ready for on-scene response work, so she organizes the group’s largest fundraiser, Bourbon for Hope, set for Sept. 19 at Holy Name School.
“There’s a level of guilt that goes with suicide,” Johnson said. “To know that there’s an organization out there to help people through it because it’s hard; it’s every day getting up and making the choice that I’m gonna go out and do something good.”
All three emphasized that Infinite Hope is entirely volunteer-run. It relies on donors and events like Bourbon for Hope to fund its work.
They added they’re actively seeking more volunteers but only those who understand it is a calling, not a job.
Posey, who still feels the loss of her son every day, said the work has given her purpose.
“Even though what I went through was horrible and it still affects you till the day you die,” she said, “I know that I’m helping other people that are having to experience the same sort of things that I did.”