Testimony: ‘We need your support, we need that hotline’

First to testify at this morning’s public hearing on the state budget was Shelly Rambo, who highlighted the “need for a statewide suicide hotline.” Rambo, who was raised in Grangeville and now lives in Boise, said, her voice breaking, that she was diagnosed at age 33 with clinical depression, and at 38 was diagnosed as bipolar. “Living with bipolar illness can lead me down a path of pain and suicidal thoughts,” she said. “However … I have the tools and access to address my symptoms. We need your support, we need that hotline. …  In rural Idaho they have no access, no medical help, no resources. We need that statewide hotline for them.”