Residents of Iaeger and McDowell County saw a community-driven push against youth suicide this fall when a Silent Suicide Walk took place in September 2025, featuring local students and a presentation on prevention and warning signs. Organized by Melissa Coleman, a WVU School of Nursing-trained Faith Community Nurse and ICU nurse manager, the walk was timed to coincide with National Suicide Prevention Month and drew participation from the Riverview High School Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) Club.

The West Virginia University School of Nursing published an announcement on October 13, 2025, verifying the event and highlighting Coleman’s leadership and the involvement of students. The announcement also noted endorsement of the initiative’s community impact by School of Nursing leadership. The walk combined a solemn public observance with an educational component: Coleman delivered a presentation aimed at helping young people recognize risks and learn steps they can take to support peers and seek help.

This outreach matters in McDowell County, where economic distress, geographic isolation and limited access to behavioral health services have contributed to disproportionately high rates of suicide. Local leaders and health professionals have long pointed to poverty, transportation barriers and shortages of mental health providers as obstacles to timely care. Community-based efforts such as the Silent Suicide Walk address those gaps by bringing prevention education directly into schools and into public view.

The involvement of Riverview High School’s SADD Club underscored the role students themselves can play in shifting norms and reducing stigma. By training young people to identify warning signs and to connect classmates with resources, organizers hope to foster earlier intervention and peer support networks that can operate even when formal services are distant. Organizers also intended the event to create a safe space for conversation in a county where many residents may be reluctant to seek help due to stigma or lack of local options.

Melissa Coleman’s dual role—combining clinical experience as an ICU nurse manager with training in faith community nursing—gave the effort both medical credibility and community outreach skill, according to the verification provided by WVU. The Faith Community Nursing program at WVU supplied the training background that supported Coleman’s approach to combining education, spiritual care considerations and practical referral information during the presentation.

One point of follow-up remains: while the Sisters of St. Joseph Health and Wellness Foundation supports broader rural mental health work in West Virginia, the announcement and other reviewed sources did not confirm any direct funding or partnership between the foundation and this Iaeger event. Reporters and residents seeking additional details are advised to contact event organizers or consult foundation grant reports for 2025 McDowell County awards.

As winter approaches and suicide prevention efforts continue, the Silent Suicide Walk stands as a recent, locally rooted example of how grassroots education and student engagement can complement longer-term investments in mental health infrastructure across McDowell County.