By Tamara L. Young, PhD, City of Destin Public Information Manager
From the moment she entered the world, Tatissa Zunguze was memorable. A twin, she and her brother, Pimissa, were born two weeks apart. It’s an extremely rare and special phenomenon. Rare and special, like Tatissa.
Friends and family used words such as “go-getter,” “responsible,” “overachiever” and “wanting to make a difference” to describe her.
Valedictorian of her high school, a STEM school in Salt Lake City, she addressed her graduating classmates with the challenge to explore the world around them in order to leave their mark. She undertook a public health internship at Johns Hopkins University immediately after high school, and went on to attend Scripps College, a liberal arts college in Claremont, Calif. “Hell would freeze over if she got a ‘B’ on an assignment,” joked Sabina.
Not only with her intellectual gift and the multiple scholarships she received, Tatissa stood out in everything she did, according to her teachers and her father, Louis, Community Development Director for the City of Destin, and her mother, Sabina, an entrepreneurial spirit involved with many leadership positions throughout Destin.
“Tatissa loved pets,” said Sabina. “She’d go to shelters and always be asking her dad for a dog. She loved doing things for families in need, especially kids, and she worked with a Rotary Club in high school to get Christmas gifts for those who couldn’t afford them. Those were her type of things.”
Then in March 2017 there was a knock on the door around 2 a.m. Even after hearing the news from the police officer, Louis and Sabina couldn’t process it. Tatissa had taken her own life. “The school had sent the officer to come over. We kept saying ‘No, there’s no way.’ We had spoken to her the day before. Louis wanted to call her again, because he said it just can’t be.”
But reality soon set in, and it was torture. After months of barely eating, barely surviving, said Sabina, she and Louis knew they had to do something. They couldn’t save their daughter, but they had to try to help others. “We could cry and keep going down a dark hole, or we could do something to make Tatissa proud,” said Sabina.
What they did was create The Tatissa Zunguze Foundation for Suicide Prevention and Social Justice. The Foundation envisions a world free from the social stigmas surrounding mental health. As part of its efforts, the Foundation has established the Okaloosa Suicide Prevention and Support (SPS) group. It strives to showcase the need for broader outreach and suicide prevention activities, and it is dedicated to raising awareness about suicide and its effects on everyone in the county.
“Because Tatissa loved activism and given how she passed, we thought suicide prevention should be the focus,” said Sabina. “Nobody should go through what we have gone through and continue to experience. As such, we want to honor and celebrate her life by continuing to work on the things and issues she loved. With social justice, we work to talk about mental illness. So, it doesn’t matter who you are or what economic status you have, you deserve to have access to mental illness resources.”
Like many cases you hear about when a suicide is involved, nobody around her had any idea Tatissa was suffering. “She was suffering in silence,” said Sabina. “She left a letter. Nobody did anything wrong. She just said she couldn’t take it anymore, and that she was done.”
“Her school was elite. So, we know there were pressures, but nothing indicating that she was not able to handle it or that anything was terribly wrong in her life.”
Sabina said that’s why the Foundation (www.thetatissafoundation.org) and its mission are so important. People don’t know where to go or how to get help. And it’s not just that folks don’t know about the resources. She often hears how expensive the resources can be. “Parents tell me they cannot afford to take their kids to therapy. You don’t just go to counseling once if you’re in trouble,” she said, “and that’s one reason why the Okaloosa program is working on a directory of appropriate, valuable resources.”
The Foundation collaborates with other agencies and school systems to help teachers, staff and students know how to help each other and recognize signs of distress. They help certify people to be suicide prevention gatekeepers through sessions and trainings. “We use the QPR format – Question, Persuade, Refer. Knowing how to recognize the signs, to know the right questions to ask someone who is struggling, to persuade them to find help, and then refer them to an appropriate source. It’s an evidence-based program.”
Certified in trainings, Sabina is also a board member for the Florida Suicide Prevention Coalition. “It’s important to talk about this difficult topic. There’s a stigma. It needs to stop.” This month alone, she’ll speak at a Kiwanis gathering, PFLAG, and at several sessions for the Greater Fort Walton Beach Chamber of Commerce. The Foundation is part of collaboration globally and locally with End Child Marriage, Hope Squad and more. Sometimes she and Louis present together, such as at a Florida Suicide Prevention Conference in Tampa.
Her twin, now 26 years old, said, “We’re on a mission to connect Tatissa’s cause” to the people it can help.
Tatissa was one month from college graduation when she took her life. She was awarded a posthumous undergraduate degree from Scripps College in May 2018. Years later, through the memories of those who loved her and the Foundation she inspired, she continues to leave her mark.
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