A nonprofit collaboration that has extended suicide prevention training to thousands of people in Northeast Florida says a loss of state funding endangers its existence.
Talkable Communities says it needs $300,000 by the end of the year to continue operating. The group has begun a Hope Needs Help campaign that urges residents in Clay, Duval, Flagler, Nassau, Putnam and St. Johns counties to donate or start a fundraiser to help save lives and foster mental well-being.
Mary Kelley Lancaster, project director for Talkable Communities, says the group works with five nonprofits to train hundreds of people in suicide prevention and mental health first aid. Talkable Communities “saves lives and makes our communities more resilient,” she said.
“We’re not training counselors. We’re educating everyday people: coworkers, friends, family members, neighbors,” Lancaster said. “We teach them to recognize signs of mental health or substance use challenges in the people they care about, start a conversation, and connect them to professional help. Think of it like physical health. If a loved one has a persistent cough, most of us say something like ‘Have you seen a doctor?’ We want people to feel just as comfortable doing that with mental health.”
A Talkable Communities training session. | Talkable Communities
Talkable Communities launched in 2021 among behavioral health organizations to expand access to mental health education and resources. Its funding enabled more than 20 staff from nonprofits to offer training in youth and adult mental health first aid, suicide crisis intervention, and help for caregivers and family members interacting with people in crisis, Lancaster said.
Since 2021, Talkable Communities says it has trained more than 12,000 people locally and nationally. Those organizations included Starting Point Behavioral Health in Nassau County, Child Guidance Center and Gateway Community Services in Duval County, Clay Behavioral Health Center in Clay County and Putnam County, and EPIC Behavioral Healthcare in St. Johns and Flagler County.
Among others, Talkable Communities trained 850 high school sophomores in Nassau County in teen mental health first aid and trained Duval County Public Schools teachers to recognize and respond to student mental health crises.
The organization says it cannot say exactly how many lives it may have saved but the training programs have had “a meaningful, measurable impact,” Lancaster said.
People trained through Talkable Communities have made over 3,000 referrals to mental health services since 2001, including 1,042 referrals in 2025 alone, she said.
“Our goal is earlier intervention, catching those challenges before they escalate,” Lancaster said. “Right now, stigma gets in the way, and too often people stay silent until someone reaches a crisis point.
Sen. Clay Yarborough requested $600,000 in state funding in Fiscal 2025/2026 to start Project TALKS — for Talk, Act, Listen, Know, Support. The program would create a “trauma informed community that will encourage healthy conversations, activities and interventions leading to a focus on mental well-being and healthier lives,” Yarborough’s funding request said.
“It creates a co-response team who will partner with local law enforcement to reduce incarceration, a care coordination team to reduce Emergency Department diversion and support for families through comprehensive mental health training programs across multiple organizations.”
The $600,000 would have joined $125,000 in federal matching funds, plus $102,897 in local money and $191,000 in other grants, for a total of $1.33 million. The program had received $550,000 in state funds for FY 2024/2025.
But Lancaster said no state bill was filed this year because area legislators “did not support the request,” resulting in the funding lapse.
“Losing this funding means thousands of community members lose access to training that could save their life or someone else’s,” Lancaster said.
As for other funding sources, funding from the Mental Health Services Administration’s Mental Health Awareness Training program will end Sept. 30. Talkable Communities also gets funding from The Community Foundation, Delores Barr Weaver Legacy Funds and Baptist Health.
The federal government has a 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline with access to free, one-on-one assistance from counselors for anyone facing mental health struggles, emotional distress, alcohol or drug use concerns, or a need for someone to talk to.