When Trina Ruffino lost her husband to suicide in 2018, she found herself navigating something she never imagined her or her 15-year-old son would face.
Alongside the overwhelming grief came a new reality: there was no roadmap for helping a child heal after such a traumatic loss.
"I realized pretty quickly there was such a lack of resources for us," Ruffino said. "How do I help my son heal from this trauma? I don't understand how we move forward."
As she searched for support, she discovered another painful truth. Many families grieving a suicide weren't just coping emotionally, but also financially.
That realization became the foundation for Project Unbroken, the nonprofit Ruffino launched in 2024 to support families left behind after suicide.
These interview highlights have been edited for length and clarity.
Turning pain into purpose
Project Unbroken focuses on what mental health professionals call 'post-vention,' supporting surviving family members after a suicide in hopes of preventing future tragedies.
Children who lose a parent to suicide are three times more likely to die by suicide themselves, making early intervention and long-term support especially important.
"We're going to focus on the family left behind," Ruffino said. "There's got to be someone helping these families continue to live on and have some hope."
The work has also transformed Ruffino's own grief.
"I have found that pain can become some sort of purpose," she said. "When someone says you've helped me understand how to take the next step or survive one more day, it's a blessing."
Breaking the silence
One of Project Unbroken's biggest missions is confronting the stigma surrounding suicide. Whenever Ruffino speaks publicly, she asks audiences a simple question: Has suicide affected your life?
"The number of hands that go up surprises people," she said. "Afterward, so many come to me and say, 'I've never talked about this before.'"
That silence, she believes, only deepens grief.
"When people feel alone, that's where the desperation comes in," Ruffino said. "You want people to know others have walked this journey. They can help you."
She also encourages people to rethink the language surrounding suicide. Rather than saying someone "committed suicide," Ruffino prefers phrases like "died by suicide" or "took their life," emphasizing that suicide is the tragic outcome of deeper mental health struggles and not a defining characteristic of the person's life.
"Talk about them," she said. "Share their name. Talk about the good things, not just how they died. Suicide often overshadows everything else about their life because it's so traumatic. But that's the way their life ended. It is not how they lived."
Meeting practical needs
Project Unbroken connects families with counseling, grief support, and spiritual resources through partner organizations. What makes the nonprofit unique, though, is its direct financial assistance.
Ruffino recognized that extracurricular activities and educational opportunities are often the first casualties when a family suddenly loses a parent or caregiver.
The organization provides two primary grants: Kids in Action helps children continue participating in sports, arts, music, dance and other extracurricular activities, while Pathways provides scholarships for college and trade schools.
Recently, the organization posted about a young ballet dancer who needed $900 to cover three months of training, costumes and competition fees.
"Someone stepped right up that morning and sponsored it," Ruffino said.
She said those moments reinforce why the work matters.
"Doctors tell us one of the biggest drivers of post-traumatic growth is peer support," she said. "The second is connectedness and community. That's what we're trying to provide."
Miranda Suarez and Ron Corning are the hosts of KERA's NTX Now. Got a tip? Email Miranda at msuarez@kera.org or Ron at rcorning@kera.org.
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