Editor’s note: If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health or suicidal thoughts, help is available. Call or text 988, the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, or chat via 988lifeline.org
FARGO — A local nurse practitioner of psychiatry is using her platform as Mrs. North Dakota America to advocate for mental health and suicide prevention.
Sara Dukart works for Sanford Health in Moorhead. She earned her crown in April.
And her five-year-old daughter, Caia Rose, won “Little Miss for North Dakota.”
Sara Dukart, Mrs. North Dakota America, poses with her daughter, Caia Rose.
Contributed
Her platform is “Hope Through Help,” which aims to reduce the stigma surrounding mental health issues and suicidal thoughts.
Dukart survived her own suicide attempt at age 13.
And she’s not limiting her message to the pageant stage.
On Sunday, May 10, she’ll be in Washington to talk to U.S. lawmakers and secure federal funding for the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.
“One thing I’ve really been pushing is like normalizing the conversations around mental health. When we start becoming more comfortable about it, that’s where the stigmas are going to fall away,” said Dukart, a nurse practitioner of psychiatry at Sanford Health.
May is also Mental Health Awareness Month.
Kjersti Maday joined WDAY as a reporter in May of 2024. She is a native of Granada, Minnesota and graduated from Minnesota State University Moorhead in 2015.