In the early years, SPCC operated entirely with volunteer leadership and minimal funding, but with an abundance of passion. A key early focus was pushing for government recognition of the issue. SPCC members advocated fiercely for the creation of the Colorado Office of Suicide Prevention (OSP), which was established by the state legislature in 2000. Although OSP started small (just one staff member at first) and could not engage in lobbying due to being a state office, it became an essential partner for SPCC. We worked hand-in-hand: SPCC provided the grassroots advocacy muscle that OSP, as a government entity, could not, and OSP provided data, expertise, and program implementation for ideas that SPCC championed. This public/private partnership set the tone for our approach: collaboration between nonprofits, state agencies, and the community.

Throughout the 2000s, SPCC built a network of members across Colorado consisting of concerned individuals and over 25 local organizations from the Western Slope to the Eastern Plains. We hosted community meetings, started an e-newsletter to share resources, and developed the first statewide Suicide Prevention Resource Directory. By connecting previously siloed efforts, SPCC helped foster a sense of a statewide movement. In these years, SPCC also laid the groundwork for later legislative efforts by raising awareness. We organized annual awareness events during National Suicide Prevention Week, lit candles at the Capitol for those lost, and trained local advocates in how to talk to their elected officials about suicide. Slowly but surely, the stigma around talking about suicide in public forums began to ease.

Entering the 2010s, SPCC sharpened its focus on advocacy at the state Capitol. The year 2012 was a turning point. SPCC volunteers, alongside two courageous legislators (Rep. Matt Jones and Sen. Linda Newell, each personally touched by suicide), crafted and helped pass HB12-1140, the first Colorado law in memory to directly address suicide prevention. This law mandated that information about suicide risk and resources be provided in hospital emergency departments statewide. The logic was simple and powerful: people who survived suicide attempts often ended up in the ER, yet many families and even healthcare providers had little knowledge of how to respond or connect those patients to help. HB12-1140 changed that by putting life-saving information into the right hands at the right time. SPCC’s role in this victory was pivotal. We organized testimony from loss survivors who movingly conveyed why the bill mattered, and we mobilized dozens of citizens to contact their legislators in support. When the Governor signed the bill, it validated our model of citizen advocacy.

Buoyed by that success, SPCC went on to champion a series of significant bills in subsequent legislative sessions:

• SB14-088 (2014) – This law created the Suicide Prevention Commission of Colorado, a formal body to advise the state on suicide prevention and facilitate public-private partnership on the issue. SPCC was instrumental in designing the commission, ensuring it included diverse voices (clinicians, community members, loss survivors) and that it reported annually to the legislature to maintain accountability.

• SB16-147 (2016) – Also known as the Zero Suicide bill, it resulted in Colorado’s first statewide comprehensive suicide prevention plan. It set aspirational goals for reducing suicides and improving training for healthcare systems. SPCC’s advocacy helped secure nearly unanimous support for this bill,  a notable shift given that a few years earlier suicide prevention was often a politically sensitive topic.

• SB18-272 (2018) – This law expanded suicide prevention training and education in Colorado’s K-12 schools. It provided grants for schools to train teachers and students in recognizing warning signs and how to connect to help.

  Alongside it, SB18-114 (2018) created a pilot program to strengthen life skills and resilience for young people, as a preventive approach. These efforts were in response to rising youth suicide rates, and SPCC brought many youth voices to the Capitol to support the cause.

• HB23-1007. Requires All post-secondary schools (public and private) to print on student ID cards the phone number and text talk number for the 988 crisis number, with the ability to include other local or campus numbers as appropriate

During these years, SPCC’s Advocacy Committee grew active and adept, meeting regularly to set priorities and plan strategy. We developed “fact sheets” and policy briefs (often using data kindly provided by the OSP), held stakeholder meetings to gather support, and sent out Action Alerts to our membership when key votes were happening. In effect, SPCC became Colorado’s grassroots lobbying arm for suicide prevention. From 2012 to 2020, several other important bills passed with SPCC’s support (covering topics like improving training for mental health professionals in suicide assessment, funding community prevention grants, and restricting youth access to lethal means). Because SPCC was volunteer-run, we often had to concentrate on just 1–2 bills per year, but our “success rate” was strong – legislators came to see us as a knowledgeable, persistent, and compassionate force at the Capitol.

A highlight of this era was recognition and collaboration on the national stage. The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP), a national leader in suicide prevention advocacy, took note of our work. AFSP’s Colorado Chapter and SPCC began partnering closely. SPCC leaders attended AFSP’s annual Advocacy Forum in D.C. to learn and bring best practices back home. In 2018, AFSP honored SPCC’s Advocacy Chair with the Field Advocate of the Year Award for outstanding advocacy. This was not only a proud moment for SPCC, but it strengthened our connection with AFSP’s resources and expertise, enabling us to further professionalize our approach.

Another signature initiative born from collaboration was Colorado Suicide Prevention Day at the Capitol. In late 2017, our advocacy chair and AFSP’s regional director had a lightbulb moment: what if we held a State Capitol “Hill Day” for suicide prevention, similar to AFSP’s national Hill Day, but with an even broader coalition? They reached out to Mental Health Colorado and NAMI Colorado to join in, and in February 2018 the first Suicide Prevention Day at the Capitol took place with four organizations (SPCC, AFSP, MHC, and NAMI) co-sponsoring. The event was powerful. Advocates of all ages shared their stories with legislators, a display of over 1,000 pairs of shoes on the Capitol steps honored the lives lost to suicide that year, and lawmakers of both parties attended to express support. The four-way partnership was unprecedented. The collaboration persists to this day, growing every year. It became a model of unity: instead of each organization hosting separate advocacy days for mental health, suicide, etc., we combined forces, demonstrating that preventing suicide is truly a shared cause. This unity made a strong impression.  Indeed, by 2020, it was not unusual to see legislators from both sides of the aisle publicly speaking about their personal connections to suicide during hearings,  a sign of stigma giving way to understanding.

SPCC entered a new phase in 2021 by hiring a professional lobbyist for the first time. Up until then, all lobbying was done by volunteers juggling advocacy with day jobs. Our volunteer advocates achieved a lot, but there were limits to what a small team could cover. With a professional lobbyist on contract (made possible by increased donations and a few grants), SPCC gained eyes and ears at the Capitol full-time. This meant we could track dozens of bills instead of a handful, respond in real-time to amendments or last-minute developments, and engage in the nuanced negotiation that happens behind the scenes on complex legislation. The difference was dramatic: in 2021, SPCC supported three bills that all passed into law, in 2022 five bills passed, and in 2023 another five bills were signed by the Governor. These included legislation integrating suicide prevention into broader behavioral health reforms and improving access to mental health care, reflecting how our focus had grown broader as we recognized the intersections of issues. By 2024, SPCC was weighing in on bills related to youth firearm storage (as a suicide means reduction strategy), insurance coverage for mental health, and more. We weren’t always the lead organization on each issue, but we became a respected voice in coalitions ensuring suicide prevention stayed part of the conversation. We continue to be active during the 2026 Legislative Session. It is bittersweet that some of our final advocacy efforts were among the most impactful, capping off a legislative record that we are truly proud of.

Crucially, SPCC never lost sight of the “coalition” in our name. We strengthened ties with parallel efforts in mental health and substance abuse, knowing that siloing issues can hamper progress. SPCC joined the Behavioral Health Partnership, a consortium of stakeholder organizations in Colorado’s mental health and substance use field, to ensure suicide prevention had a seat at that table. The Behavioral Health Partnership’s mission is to raise awareness and improve systems for mental health and substance use through unified action, and it includes groups such as Mental Health Colorado, the Colorado Behavioral Healthcare Council , the Colorado Providers Association, NAMI Colorado, the Colorado Psychiatric Society, the Colorado Psychological Association, the Colorado Mental Wellness Network, and more. SPCC became an active member, collaborating on policy priorities that overlap with suicide prevention. This partnership exemplified the direction of the field, breaking down issue silos in favor of holistic approaches to behavioral health. It also provided a glimpse into a future where SPCC’s mission could be carried on within a larger collective framework.