33rd Annual Spiritual Care Day

It’s Healthy to Get Help: Responding to Suicide and Attempted Suicide

Thursday, October 26th – 8:00AM-12:30PM

May Memorial Universalist Society, Syracuse

This will be an in-person event with limited remote viewing access

Suicide doesn’t discriminate. It affects people of all economic strata, ages, sexual orientations, races, ethnic identities and religions. How do we as professional chaplains in hospitals and psychiatric facilities, together with communities of faith, respond to the needs of those who have attempted suicide, and the needs of their families and friends? How can we join together to minister to the bereaved? This program will address issues such as how to visit a suicidal person who is hospitalized. It will help both chaplains and community-based spiritual caregivers to minister to patients, family and friends.

Featured Speakers

Ashley Davis (she/her/hers) has been at ACR Health since April 2020, and works as the Cultural Competency Specialist for the Q Center. Ashley graduated from Le Moyne College with a degree in political science in 2019, and has a passion for creating equitable and affirming spaces for queer youth through her work with the Q Center.

Presentation: Suicide Prevention and Support in the LGBTQI Community (with Mikey Kelly)

Karen Heisig (she/her) is the Area Director for the Greater Central New York Chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP). She began her journey with AFSP in 2009 after losing her both her husband, an Army veteran, and her borther-in-law, by suicide. After volunteering for more than 10 years at the AFSP Western New York Chapter, she joined the AFSP Field Staff team in January 2020. Karen has a deeply rooted belief in the AFSP mission to save lives and bring hope to those affected by suicide.

Presentation: Finding Hope

Michael “Mikey” Kelly (he/him/his) has been the Coordinator of the Watertown Q Center at ACR Health for two years. His primary job is to provide a safe and supportive space for queer youth by providing social support groups and care management for the LGBTQIA+ community, and educating the general community on LGBTQIA+ issues to increase allyship in northern New York. Before working at ACR Health, Mikey worked in higher education in residence life and Title IX, as well as running the LGBTQIA+ resource center on campus. Mikey graduated with his bachelor’s in organizational communication from Keuka College in 2014 and will be completing his master’s in clinical social work in August 2024 from Syracuse University. When Mikey isn’t found at the Q Center, you’d likely find him in a movie theater or spending time with his pets, Chops and Jojo.

Presentation: Suicide Prevention and Support in the LGBTQI Community (with Ashley Davis)

The Rev. Jae James Kim relocated to the U.S. from Korea, earning his M. Div. at Calvin Theological Seminary in Michigan. He became an ordained minister in the Christian Reformed Church in North America. His steadfast service to several Dutch American congregations brought him to Syracuse in 2017 as a church planter. As a board-certified chaplain, he took on the role of Chief Chaplain at the Central New York Psychiatric Center (CNYPC), Secured Treatment and Rehabilitation Center (STARC). In doing so, he became the institution’s first full-time chaplain since its inception in 1977. Under his leadership, CNYPC/ STARC emerged as the only New York facility to offer virtual religious services during the pandemic. He oversees 18 diverse religious groups, three separate OMH facilities, and works closely with 12 multi-faith leaders. With certifications in grief counseling, compassion fatigue, anger management, and as a Certified Sex Offender Treatment Provider, Rev. Kim currently heads the Spiritual Care Department at Community Hospital, while also pursuing his certification as an ACPE CEC educator at SUNY Upstate Medical University.

Presentation: The Two Sides of the Story

The Rev. Steven Moore, Psy.D., D.Min., is a clinical psychologist at SUNY Upstate Medical Psychiatry Faculty Practice who serves as a therapist in the Attempted Suicide Short Intervention project. He was formerly an inpatient therapist on 7W Adolescent Inpatient Psychiatry at Upstate. Fr. Moore is also the director of the Spiritual Renewal Center, rector of Grace Episcopal Church, and vicar of Church of the Saviour in Syracuse. He studied at the California School of Professional Psychology in San Francisco, Colgate Rochester Crozier Divinity School, Catholic University, and Church Divinity School of the Pacific.  Additionally, he trained in spiritual direction at the Haden Institute/Mt. Carmel Spiritual Center and Loyola House.

InterFaith Works’ 33rd Annual Spiritual Care Day, It’s Healthy to Get Help: Responding to Suicide and Attempted Suicide, will be an in-person event and live streamed on Zoom. The event, which provides professional development experiences for spiritual caregivers, clergy, chaplains and lay leaders, will be held from 8:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., on Thursday, October 26th. The in-person program will include a hot breakfast catered by Who Want Smoke BBQ & Catering (no pork products), presentations by each speaker and a panel discussion.

Ticket/registration options include:

• Live in-person event, including breakfast  – $35.00
• Access to live online viewing of the event on Zoom – $25.00
• Access to a post-event recording only – $15.00
• All registration options include viewing access up to 14 days after the event
• Zoom live stream user/password links will be emailed to registrants on Wednesday, October 25th

Registration ends at 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, October 24th

Please indicate Sign Language needs in the “Additional Notes” section of the registration page

Secure Online Ticket & Sponsorship Registration         Printable Ticket & Sponsorship Registration Form

For more information contact Bishop Colette Matthews-Carter at

315-449-3552, ext. 111, or email bishopcolettecarter@ifwcny.org