Do Your Part

Keep your home and community safe

There are three important steps that anyone can take to help keep you home and community safe from suicide and drug misuse:

• Lock Medication: Use lock bags and boxes to safely keep medications such as painkillers, anxiety pills, or sedatives out of reach from those who may misuse them.
• Lock Guns: Use lock safes and trigger locks to keep firearms safely stored away.
• Talk Safety: Have a conversation with your family and friends about mental health, safety, and substance misuse.

To learn more about these efforts, check out our partners at Lock and Talk Virginia.

Get free medication lock boxes & trigger locks

Since 2020, the Community Mental Health and Wellness Coalition and Region Ten have distributed over 3000 free safety devices and materials to help keep our community safe from suicide and overdose.  We offer these free safety devices:

• Lock boxes to store prescription medications and small firearms
• Medication lock bags to store and discretely travel with medications
• Trigger locks and cable locks to add extra security to firearms
• Drug deactivation packets to safely dispose of unwanted prescription medication

Residents of Charlottesville, Albemarle, Fluvanna, Greene, Louisa, and Nelson Counties can reques free devices using this simple form and pick them up from their nearest Region Ten office

Help prevent overdose

Being trained to reverse an overdose and carrying Narcan is the most effective way to prevent an overdose.  Narcan, a branded name for Naloxone, is a prescription medication that reverses opioid overdoses as they are happening. It works by temporarily blocking the effects of opioids and helps the person experiencing an overdose breathe again.

There are many organizations that provide free Narcan, fentanyl test strips, and overdose prevention training to community members.

Help prevent suicide

Recognizing signs and symptoms of suicide risk is an important way to keep your family and community safe.

If you are concerned about someone at risk of suicide, it is best to talk with the person directly. Show care, speak honestly and directly, listen without judgement, give reassurance, and be ready to offer help.  Asking directly about whether a person has thoughts of suicide helps show the person you care and are prepared to help.

For immediate support and guidance, call or text the Regional Call Center at 434-230-9704 or dial 9-8-8 for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. Both of these resources provide free and confidential crisis intervention and support 24 hours per day, 7 days per week.