Mental Health Connor’s Climb founder to be honored Tara Holmes Ball to receive Erik Cogswell Memorial Award

EXETER — Tara Holmes Ball, founder of Connor’s Climb Foundation, has been selected by Seacoast Mental Health Center to receive the Erik Cogswell Memorial Award.

The award is presented annually by the Erik Cogswell Memorial Conference Committee to recognize an individual for his/her outstanding contributions to help improve the lives of people with bipolar disorder and other mental illnesses. The recipient provides Hope, Education or Support for those living with mental illness, as well as those who care for them and/or contribute to the community at large.

Seacoast Mental Health Center Executive Director Jay Couture said of Ball: “Since the death of her son Connor in 2011 by suicide, Tara has been a tireless advocate for suicide education and prevention at the local, state and national levels Tara has shown there is hope!

“There are things that we as individuals, families, and communities can do to understand the signs of suicide risk, mental illness and to understand what resources available and how to access them,” Couture said.

Suicide is the second-leading cause of death for people between the ages of 10 and 24. There is good news, though: suicide is preventable.

The Connor’s Climb Foundation works to raise awareness and provide education for youth suicide prevention throughout New Hampshire. The Foundation collaborates with teachers and schools, the public, and the mental health system to ensure that the young people of New Hampshire have the life-saving resources needed to prevent suicide.

The conference will be held Oct. 21 at the Harbor Events Center in Portsmouth. The theme is Breaking Barriers: Developments in Treatment and Supports for Bipolar Disorder and Other Mental Illnesses. Keynote Speaker Kevin Hines, an award-winning global speaker, and suicide prevention and mental health advocate, has reached millions with his story of an unlikely survival and his strong will to live. Two years after he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, he attempted to take his life by jumping from the Golden Gate Bridge.

In 2000 Karin and Ed Cogswell helped Seacoast Mental Health Center to establish the Erik Cogswell Memorial Conference in memory of their son Erik who died by suicide in November 1999 as a result of bipolar disorder. Their goal was to educate, support, and provide resources to people living with and recovering from bipolar disorder and their families, friends and the community at large. Since that time, the scope of the conference has grown to include all mental illnesses.