The Arts Foundation of Cape Cod and The Quell Foundation have announced a partnership to provide scholarships to high school seniors who have either been diagnosed with a mental health condition or who have lost a family member to suicide and who are planning to pursue a college degree in an arts-related field.
Quell Foundation CEO, Kevin Lynch, and AFCC Executive Director, Julie Wake, share the belief that the arts have the power to heal, making it a perfect conduit for their two agencies to collaborate.
In 2016, Barnstable County Human Services reported that the suicide rate on Cape Cod and the Islands was 1.4 times higher than the rest of the state. According to the Massachusetts Coalition for Suicide Prevention, suicide is the third leading cause of death in the state for individuals between the ages of 15 and 24.