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19 people under 25 died by suicide in Key Peninsula and Gig Harbor area from 2015–2024.Gig Harbor mayor’s youth council will host a free youth mental health summit Saturday.The event will include a Q&A panel, workshops with mental health professionals and more.
There were 19 people under the age of 25 who died by suicide from 2015 to 2024 in the Key Peninsula and Gig Harbor areas, according to an April report from the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department.
On Saturday, May 30, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., the Gig Harbor mayor’s youth council will host a youth mental health summit at the Gig Harbor Civic Center. The free event will include a Q&A panel with both youth and mental health professionals, workshops for youth and parents, and access to mental health resources.
They’ll also have therapy animals, a community room with arts, crafts and games, and a photo booth. B’s Bagels & Butters will have bagel bites and Galaxy Theatres will have popcorn for attendees, youth council members told The News Tribune.
The city recruited applications for the youth council last spring, inviting high school students interested in local government to share their perspective with the city and engage in public service. Applications for their next cohort are available on the city’s website.
The summit represents the youth council’s end-of-year project. Originally, the summit was going to have a broader focus, with mental health as a part, said Shealynn Smiley, the city’s staff liaison for the youth council. They changed their minds because of recent tragedies related to mental health in the community, she said.
The youth council’s summit, centered on the theme “You, Me, We Stronger Together,” aims to empower youth to seek help — both for themselves and for friends who are struggling, members of the youth council told The News Tribune.
“I think we’re hoping that people will walk out the door with the tools to be able to address their own mental health and support others around them,” said 18-year-old Kim Bornt, a member of the youth council.
Even if one person walks away with those tools, the event will be a success, she said.
Suicide rates in the Gig Harbor area
In their April report, the county health department’s Assessment, Evaluation and Epidemiology team wrote that the suicide rate in the Key Peninsula/Gig Harbor area “was slightly elevated in the area compared to the county, though low counts prohibited our ability to determine if this difference was statistically significant.”
Out of the 19 suicides in that area among youth under age 25 from 2015-2024, the highest number occurred in 2022, according to the report.
“Of more concern, the rate of suicidal ideation-related emergency department (ED) visits among those under 25 has been consistently higher in the Key Peninsula and Gig Harbor area compared to Pierce County,” the report said. “Rates of suicidal ideation-related ED visits among that group increased in both communities in 2025.”
Smiley, the city of Gig Harbor’s housing, health and human services program manager, noted that the emergency room statistic can be looked at two ways. It could indicate a higher rate of suicidal ideation, but it could also mean more people are reaching out for help, she said.
She added that Gig Harbor deals with the same challenges as other communities, even if “the need is not as visible.”
“Sometimes it is surprising to people when they learn the issues that our community deals with are the same as every other community,” she said. “They just may not be as visible out in the open, but they’re all still very much there.”
Thelma Brown is a retired educator and the advisor of Circle of Friends, a club at Gig Harbor High School and Henderson Bay High School that trains students to support their peers as mental health advocates. She also advises the People of Diversity Club at Gig Harbor High School and is an active member of Communities in Schools of Peninsula.
“We do need to talk about suicide,” Brown said. “We need to be able to say the word in order to be able to break the stigma. And I just think we need to be more aware of each other as human beings. We have to start taking care of each other and ourselves and we just have to be there for the kids.”
Brown serves as the president of the Gig Harbor Key Peninsula Suicide Prevention Coalition, a group that brings together first responders, mental health professionals, schools, healthcare providers and community organizations to reduce suicide attempts in the region.
The three youth council members who spoke with The News Tribune about the upcoming summit all said they knew of people who died by suicide or struggled with mental health.
“ … it just hit really close to home for some reason this year,” said Alexis Morgan, 17. “Like my teacher left the room crying. And like you’re looking up to your teachers … and they still have to teach after hearing this news, it’s hard as a student to watch that.”
Bornt said she lost a friend to suicide in eighth grade, and recalled peers not being understanding or supportive of each other. An event like the summit to remove the stigma around mental health would have helped, she said.
The Peninsula School District partnered with the city of Gig Harbor, the Key Peninsula Civic Center and other organizations to host two Youth Mental Health Town Halls earlier this month. The events, which took place on the Key Peninsula and in Gig Harbor, brought together a panel of mental health professionals, school district counselors and other experts to answer questions and share resources.
“The goal of the evenings was to foster awareness, connection, and collective responsibility around youth mental health,” Lisa Reaugh, executive director of student services for the Peninsula School District, wrote in an email. “By creating space for conversation and learning, the Town Halls reflect our shared commitment to building a stronger community safety net for students and families and ensuring that no one feels they have to navigate these challenges alone.”
Youth summit to raise awareness of mental health resources
During her previous career as a crisis mental health therapist, Smiley noticed one of the biggest barriers for people trying to access mental health resources was that they didn’t know how.
“I think there is a general conception that therapy or mental health services costs a lot of money, and so just the thought of that can prevent someone from looking into it,” she said.
Navigating these systems can be complicated, and the perceived stigma of accessing mental health services can be additional barriers, said Smiley. The summit aims to tackle these barriers by making it easier for people to see the resources available to them.
Smiley told The News Tribune that it’s important not to assume a kid is doing “OK” just because they’re involved in activities and excelling.
“The overwhelming consensus I get from everyone, from our youth council members, and from other youths in the community is our youth of today are under enormous pressure and stress,” she said.
Mental health and crisis resources
If you or someone you know is struggling, you can call or text 988 to reach a 24-hour, confidential suicide and crisis lifeline.
Other resources include but are not limited to:
The News Tribune
Julia Park is the Gig Harbor reporter at The News Tribune and writes stories about Gig Harbor, Key Peninsula, Fox Island and other areas across the Tacoma Narrows. She started as a news intern in summer 2024 after graduating from the University of Washington, where she wrote for her student paper, The Daily, freelanced for the South Seattle Emerald and interned at Cascade PBS News (formerly Crosscut).