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Welcome to the Website of the Iris Alliance Fund

Thank you for your interest in an important cause that needs our attention and our advocacy: youth suicide prevention.

Suicide and related mental health issues like depression continue to plague our children and families. Most recently, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration announced that approximately 900,000 youth had made a plan to commit suicide during their worst or most recent episode of major depression, and 712,000 attempted suicide during such an episode of depression.

I know about this crisis all too well. In 1980, my older sister committed suicide at age 17. In my sister’s memory, the Iris Alliance Fund was created to make a difference, using a broad-based approach to mainstream mental health and expand the boundaries of mental health advocacy. The Iris Alliance Fund develops projects with our partners to increase access to health care, to end stigma and clear misconceptions, and help families in dealing with a stigmatized society, leveraging resources for suicide prevention efforts and strengthening community and families to protect children and adolescents. By building partnerships and educating communities, we hope to bridge the remaining divides between physical health and mental health.

I hope you will join in this vital effort, and that our website will help inform and inspire action to make a difference for youth and families.

Thank you for your support,

Mary C. Hayashi
Founder

The Iris Alliance Fund is a project of the National Asian Women's Health Organization.