Personal Note:

C.A.R.E.S. was born because of my own personal tragedy. On January 17, 2006, at 1:34am, my husband and I were notified that our son, Angelo, the oldest of our three boys had died of suicide from a gunshot wound. He was 24 years old. His dream was

to become a police officer. He graduated from the police academy and was in the process of interviewing with local police departments. He had recently moved into

his own apartment, enjoyed riding his new motorcycle and we thought he was happy. We had no warning signs.

That night, our nightmare began and I couldn’t see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Unfortunately, Lee County had very limited services to offer our family. Only one support group existed in Fort Myers, which met twice per month. After researching suicide prevention organizations throughout the U.S. and learning all the alarming statistics, I realized that I needed to do something in our community. In April, 2006, C.A.R.E.S. was formed with the help of some wonderful and caring people.

I now see that light, and that light is my son urging me to turn something so tragic

 into a positive venture where we can help others.  C.A.R.E.S., Community Awareness in Recognizing & Educating on Suicide, is a 501c3 non profit organization focusing on

suicide prevention and awareness. Our vision to open a much needed resource

center in our community where we are able to help anyone in need, became a reality on July 10, 2008. Whether it is for information purpose or financial help referrals, we want to help our community to be aware that suicide exists among us. This is the only resource center in Southwest Florida for suicide prevention.

I will never know “why” Angelo took his own life…what I do know is that he is the angel on my shoulder watching and guiding me to save someone else’s life from

suicide.

Virginia Cervasio

Founder

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