Honor and Thank: Combats suicide in frontline healthcare workers

By Janet Garcia

Medical workers are the first line of defense to combat the Coronavirus. They are tasked with exhausting work hours, witnessing high amounts of deaths and uncertainty for the future. It can take a toll on their mental health. Two frontline medical workers died by suicide recently.

(Photo courtesy by Honor and Thank)

As times are tough, the organization Honor and Thank are stepping up. Honor and Thank, allow the community to post a message of encouragement and gratefulness to healthcare facilities around your city—the messages sent to over 12,000 healthcare facilities across the United States.

Kathleen Kilmer, founder and CEO of Easy Event Planning, got the idea of Honor and Thank as a way to help her sister, who is a nurse.

"I have three sisters who are essential workers, and I live with one of them," said Kilmer." I see the other end of this whole pandemic. The depression, the anxiety now I feel that if we do not support these people and they start calling in sick, our entire healthcare system could crumble."

The organization is self-funded and relies on volunteer effort in the hopes of expanding in the future.

"We purchased a list of hospitals across the United States and very much want to expand that to include nursing homes and EMT, but we just can't afford it right now," stated Kilmer.

The response of the medical workers receiving these messages is a positive impact and a boost of motivation for their day.

"We get great feedback from nurses and medical professionals who receive these messages. They will say to us sometimes, this is what gets me through the day," said Kilmer.

Appreciation and knowledge of hard work is a step forward to helping healthcare workers know they are not alone in this battle.

"People need to feel like they are seen and recognized for what they are doing," stated Kilmer. The workers need this and the support to keep showing up to save lives."

Honor and Thank collaborates with other businesses to help send meals and other threats to hospitals alongside a thank you letter.

Kilmer advocates taking action and the impact everyone can make by sending one message.

"All they have to do is go on HonorAndThank.com and post a text message, upload a video, and it only takes two minutes."

For more information to donate and send messages to healthcare workers in your area, click here.