Ritu Chatterjee

Ritu Chatterjee, NPR News.

And today we're adding yet another layer to that topic.

I'm ready.

And that is what is needed emotionally from someone who is caring for a person in suicidal crisis.

So today we're focusing on the caregivers.

That's right.

Caregivers like Jo Lambert in London.

And so eight years ago, Jo first learned that someone she loves was feeling suicidal.

And as she started to learn how to care for them, she made a promise to the universe.

So a couple of years ago, Jo used her experiences to write a poem.

It's about what someone in suicidal crisis needs to get through that crisis safely.

And it's a message she wished everyone could hear in order to support a loved one who's struggling.

Almost like what she wishes every caregiver knew.

Exactly, exactly.

Actually, almost every person because, you know, everyone has someone who may be struggling, whether it's a suicidal crisis or not.

And Jo called this poem, Hold the Hope.

Around the same time, she began working with a group of people who had also been touched by suicide through a loved one or they themselves lived with suicidality.

And the group wanted to use their collective experiences to make a short educational film about preventing suicide.

The film, also titled Hold the Hope, uses this poem as narration.

And then this year, Joe took it to the next level by turning that poem into a song.