If you or a loved one are having thoughts of suicide, call 988, the number for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.
If you drive by Quinby Street in Wooster, you might notice a striking blue among the greenery.
The blue tree isn't an ecological phenomenon.
Instead, it's painted as part of an international mental health campaign known as The Blue Tree Project.
Residents Scott and Barb Friedhoff helped make Wooster the first city in Ohio to participate, with a goal of reducing the stigma around mental health.
"We can talk about physical health, we can talk about our heart health, we do that," said Scott Friedhoff. "But boy, talking about mental health is something that's, it's just not done."
The couple first learned about The Blue Tree Project while traveling in Australia, where the organization was founded.
The project was started by the family of Jayden Whyte, who died by suicide. The symbol of the blue tree comes from a practical joke Whyte played on his father, when he painted one of the trees on his farm blue.
There are now 1,666 blue trees registered with the project globally.
When the Friedhoffs returned from Australia, they began their efforts by giving miniature painted trees to local organizations.
"In these 100 trees or so that we've delivered, I tell you, there's almost always a story," Barb Friedhoff said. "Somebody whose child considered taking their own life in high school ... a young woman who had suffered postpartum depression and had never learned that it was OK to talk about that."
Jen Grim, executive director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) for Wayne and Holmes Counties, said that in addition to starting conversations, she hopes the blue trees connect more people to the resources they need.
"We have an abundance of mental health resources," she said. "But I can't tell you how many times people will say, when they encounter NAMI, 'Well gosh, why didn't I hear about this before?'"
Each tree has a QR code linking to local mental health organizations like NAMI. Grim said she's seen an increase in visits to the organization's online pages since the trees were painted.
"The trees are not really meant to be a memorial to the folks we have lost," Barb Friedhoff said. "They're really meant to be symbols of hope."
