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By Cathy Wurzer and Gracie Stockton

Tuesday marks two years since the U.S. made asking for help in a mental health crisis as simple as dialing or texting 988 as an alternative to calling for police or paramedics.

The switch to three digits mirrors 911 in its ease to remember, but it’s only useful when the public knows it exists.

Scott Roeder lost his son Jackson to suicide in 2017. Since then, he’s worked to get the word out about suicide prevention, including awareness of 988 and destigmatizing mental health concerns and treatment in and around St. Cloud.

“People talk about grief and getting over it. And it’s just something you really never ‘get over it.’ It changed our lives,” Roeder said. “And with that change, in memory of Jackson, we wanted to do something here in central Minnesota to make a difference.”

That difference took the form of the Jackson Roeder Memorial Fund, philanthropic events and memorializing his son by maintaining a website Jackson himself started in 2016.

Data analyzed by the Minnesota Department of Health show more than 3,200 calls were answered monthly by crisis centers in 2023, and 95 percent didn’t need on-site help like a mobile crisis unit or emergency medical services. Just 1.2 percent of callers were transferred to 911. Minnesota’s 988 line had a nearly 89 percent answer rate from January to May of 2024.

While calls to 988 have gone up in Minnesota since the state began using the three-digit shortcut, Roeder believes more people need to know about it as “it’s such a critical tool for our society today to have, especially for young people.”

Roeder has partnered with Central Minnesota Suicide Prevention Coalition and CentraCare to get updated 988 banners in schools across the Stearns, Benton, Sherburne and Wright counties, and their efforts picked up momentum as more schools got word.

“I originally changed out about eight of them … Now I’ve put ‘988’ banners up in 24 of the 25 school districts here in central Minnesota,” Roeder said.

That’s more than 80 banners.

“It really has made a difference. The superintendents, principals, social workers, were all very welcoming. And the schools are really trying to make a difference for their kiddos, doing much more than just putting up the 988 banners.”

Along with suicide prevention, Roeder hopes to reduce shame and prejudice through education.

“Mental health is something that we really have to deal with and take care of one another and to try to reduce this stigma. I think I felt that stigma with my son as well. And I wish I could have talked more about it with others,” Roeder said.

“I think it’s starting to improve today. But we all have to take care of those that are struggling.”