Conversations with Francine Sumner

Today we’d like to introduce you to Francine Sumner

Hi Francine, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Kid in the Corner is a grassroots nonprofit organization that Zachary Sumner’s family and friends started after he died by suicide on June 13, 2017. The loss of Zach was a heartbreaking tragedy that rocked our community to its core.

​During his journey, Zach often said that although he was fighting so hard to conquer his mental illness, he felt alone, like nobody cared. None of the kids at school, youth groups, or extracurricular clubs ever asked him where he had been after he’d been gone for weeks. No one inquired about how he was feeling or reached out with an offer to listen. It was as if mental illness had made Zach invisible. After a two-week stint in the hospital, he felt deflated that he hadn’t gotten even a single voicemail message. He believed he didn’t matter.

​Zach was a funny, intelligent, well-liked kid. But he was convinced that he was the Kid in the Corner. This sense of isolation and insignificance fueled his depression and enabled his decision to end his life. If only he could have seen the outpouring of love and support for him after his passing. It wasn’t that nobody cared. It was that nobody knew what to say. When people don’t know what to say, they say nothing.

After many sleepless nights and discussions with friends, family, and physicians, Kid in the Corner was born. We simply could not stand idly by and watch this happen to anyone else. Nobody should feel alone. Mental illness is a physiological condition that needs open discussion, awareness, compassion, and activism. We need to start the conversation and #ShatterTheStigma.

Our mission is to Shatter the stigma that supports mental Illness and to support the kid in the corner, whoever that may be; we do this with a three-pronged approach
1. To educate and spread awareness – This is where our Penny Pledge Program comes in
2. To promote contagious kindness – none of it works without kindness! We host at least four community kindness events every year
3. To connect the community to resources – We host an annual conference FREE to the public with resources, breakout sessions, and an expert panel

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
This journey has been difficult, mainly because of the issue we most try to address: “stigma.” It isn’t easy to get into schools. There is still the mindset that if we talk about suicide, we will put the idea in the minds of youth.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am the Founder and CEO of Kid in the Corner. A youth mental health and suicide prevention nonprofit that I founded in 2017 after I lost my youngest son, Zach, to suicide. In the last seven years, I have changed and saved lives with our Penny Pledge Program, which teaches youth the skills, tools, language, and resources needed to
1. Reach out to new, struggling, sad, etc.
2. Take care of and advocate for their mental health
3. Know what to do and what resources to use if someone approaches them and needs help.

I have also founded a coalition called Mental Health Matters Arizona, which aims to provide FREE resources, such as a conference and website on mental health, for the community at large—something I desperately needed when we were in crisis.

What are your plans for the future?
My plan is to take both KITC and the structure of MHMAZ to the national levels in the hopes of shattering stigma, reducing youth suicide and educating the general public on all things mental health,

Pricing:

• * www..kidinthecorner.org
• www.mentalhealthmattersarizona,com
• MHMAZ conference Spet 28th, 2024 at ASU Skysong

Contact Info:

• Website: www.kidinthecorner.org
• Instagram: @kidinthecornerorg
• Facebook: @kidinthecornerorg
• Other: https://www.mentalhealthmattersarizona.com/

Image Credits
Head shot is by Jillian Rivera