MAD HOPE
Making A Difference – Helping Other People Everywhere
Youth suicide preventioN
Concerned now?
Suicide & Crisis Prevention Lifeline: 988
Crisis Text Line: 741-741
Our Mission:
Our mission is to empower young people and school communities to take informed action to increase interpersonal connectedness, to share accurate information about youth mental health, and to teach practical tools for suicide prevention.
The MAD HOPE training aims to provide information, knowledge, tools, and resources to middle and high school aged youth about how to strengthen mental well-being and recognize social supports. We provide an opportunity for young people to reflect on what tools they already have and what they can add to their toolkit to handle their stress in healthy ways. We provide young individuals with the tools, information, and resources to build confidence and knowledge to address youth mental health and suicide in our community.
Through the MAD HOPE training, participants will learn healthy ways to deal with everyday stress, effective ways to communicate about mental well-being, tools to identify when a person may need support with their well-being, and how to connect with support, resources, and Trusted Adults in their community.
MAD HOPE is a program of the Whatcom Prevention Coalition at Whatcom Family & Community Network, a program that mobilizes community partners as collaborators and is aimed at offering hope through positive action. MAD HOPE is funded by local donations and private and corporate foundation funds. Current funders include the Healthy Communities grant from Whatcom County Health & Community Services and the Washington State Health Care Authority.
A Trusted Adult in the life of a young person can be a powerful source of support. We encourage students to identify who the Trusted Adults are in their life and to connect with them for support. The Trusted Adult Campaign, which includes workshops, social media, and public service messages, helps adults learn how to be better Trusted Adults for the youth they care for in community. Click on the button above to learn more!
What we do:
The MAD HOPE program is a collaboration of caring youth and community member voices bonded together by expertise in youth suicide prevention. The MAD HOPE Youth Suicide Prevention and Mental Well-Being Training is a 3-hour training that utilizes an interactive, multi-media curriculum. Our training aims to help youth develop skills and further their understanding around issues of mental well-being and suicide prevention. Students and educators tell us that we create a safe and comfortable opportunity to have challenging conversations while also offering fun interactions in which to learn difficult content.
MAD HOPE utilizes safe messaging and other best practices in youth suicide prevention education. The MAD HOPE curriculum was added to the Suicide Prevention Resource Center’s national Best Practice Registry in 2025, which recognizes its use of current suicide prevention research, safe messaging practices, and best practices in youth suicide prevention education. Our data shows demonstrated effectiveness in increasing youth knowledge around these topics and demonstrates positive shifts in attitudes around help-seeking behavior.
Primary Goals:
Educate
Provide accurate information and help learners identify when a person might need support.
Connect
Explore connections that support well-being and ways to foster it, including knowing what to say, what to do, and what resources are available in one’s community.
Share
Promote and offer tools to support peer-to-peer conversation and support.
Act
Take initiative in help-seeking behavior by reaching out to resources (people, places, and helplines) when needed for oneself or a peer.
Quotes from Students
The names and faces attached to the stories have been changed to protect privacy, but the experiences are recent, real, and full of hope.
Lynden High School Student
Sehome High School Student
Thank you for presenting your suicide awareness information to our class. This topic is extremely important and I wish the rest of the world was as talkative and educated about it as MAD HOPE. I enjoyed the videos you showed, especially the one on how to start the conversation and the poem. You are doing a great thing at MAD HOPE. Thank you.
Lynden High School Student
Our Resources*
Mental Health Resources
MAD HOPE Curriculum Overview
School Year Wellness Plan
MAD HOPE Qualitative Data Study
Kindness Board Instructions
Self Love Resource
Positive Self Talk Resource
MH Outcomes Report '23-'24
Educate. Connect. Share. Act.
Making a difference starts here. Let’s help each other, together. Send a note, or call 360-738-1196.
Disclaimer: We are not a crisis response center and are not equipped to respond to crisis. We focus on prevention and do not check messages 24/7. If you or someone you know is in crisis please call the Suicide Prevention Lifeline – 988.
📞 360.738.1196
📧 managermadhope@wfcn.org
Our Sponsors:
Web design provided by:
Vicki Robinson
