Betsy Rhodes has been the Area Director for the North Carolina Chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention since October 2015. Prior to joining the AFSP staff, Betsy worked as a development professional for the March of Dimes Foundation; was a newspaper writer/columnist for 25 years; and concurrent with her newspaper career, was a United Methodist Youth Director for 10 years.
A North Carolina native, Betsy was born in Elizabeth City with family all over the state. She and her husband Bernie live in Elizabeth City, NC. They are the parents of four: Luke, Caroline, Jordannah and Jonathan; and also have five grandchildren.
In 2003, Betsy & Bernie lost their oldest child Luke, 23, to suicide. In an effort to understand, Betsy educated herself about suicide. Her journey led her to realize Luke had multiple risk factors – family history; untreated depression, anxiety & OCD; exacerbated by 6 years of chronic back pain from a snowboarding injury at the age of 17. Unfortunately, due to a lack of knowledge, the warning signs of Luke’s imminent suicide were not recognized by family and friends until after his death.
Following Luke’s death, the family embraced education about suicide, grief therapy and became part of the local Survivors of Suicide Support Group. In 2005, Betsy served on the Design Team for the first Virginia Beach Out of the Darkness Walk, now one of the largest OOTD walks in the country. She served as an AFSP volunteer for 5 years.
Because of Luke, Betsy is dedicated to preventing suicide and is particularly passionate about preventing it in youth and young adults.