In early Dec. 2020, when Brianna Dorgan passed away, her father, Matt Dorgan, struggled with finding a purpose in life. 

That is where Building Bridges for Brianna was born. 

 “She was an extremely caring person; she would always go out of her way to help everybody else, it didn’t matter if she was struggling; she would put that aside at the same time,” Dorgan states.

Through the creation of this organization, Dorgan not only found that purpose but also a way to keep Brianna’s story alive and to spread awareness for suicide prevention. 

“It helped me in more ways than anyone can imagine. It gave me a purpose to keep moving forward, to know what we’re doing is saving lives. It gives me an extra push, doing what Brianna wanted to be a therapist, so we can make that come true,” Dorgan says.

Each September, Dorgan holds an event to allow the community to come together as a family to raise awareness. People can find vendors, food trucks, and even community members who volunteer at the Building Bridges for Brianna event, located at Dallastown Community Park. 

During the event, Dorgan tells Brianna’s story, giving advice to others, and doing what Brianna wanted the most– to spread the word about suicide prevention.

Dallastown graduate Logan Silverstein met Brianna in seventh grade. He says Building Bridges for Brianna is important to the community and has impacted him after her loss, allowing him to grieve and to get the help he needs.

 “The organization is important so that it doesn’t happen to anyone else, it’s important that someone does it, someone who has experienced it and is well educated. Being able to provide support and a safe place,” Silverstein said.

Recently, as a result of donations,  the group was able to open their first office where social workers and therapists help people find the guidance they need. 

In the office located on Main Street in the Dallastown, community members can find free therapy and a short waitlist. 

“To give out free therapy and any money you bring in goes to a good cause. A lot of wait times are 6-8 months to get therapy. By us offering another stream of counseling, we are able to get them in a lot quicker. On average, it can take from a one day wait period to two weeks to get someone in. We don’t go through insurance; we charge $35 after four free sessions,” Dorgan said. 

The organization has grown due to more promotion and volunteers, and this has helped their annual event grow as well.  

The Building Bridges for Brianna event started with 35 vendors and about 1,500 attendees is now much larger. 

“Every year it has simply doubled to where the last event they had, 7,500 people attended, over 130 vendors, food trucks, bands. The most impactful out of that is we had people at the festival who were able to get therapy and counseling on-site and get scheduled, we outgrew our first office so we had to expand into another office,” Dorgan said.

The organization has made an impact by providing mental guidance, allowing  about 400 people with different backgrounds within the community to get help, and showing them that they are not alone.

Since Dorgan was young, his dream was to become a part of law enforcement as a police officer. He graduated from the Key West Police Academy and was hired by the Key West Police Department as a patrol officer shortly after. 

He eventually left and joined a private sector security, gained knowledge, and became successful in lowering drug overdoses, robberies, and assaults of members in the community. 

After Brianna’s death, Dorgan was inspired to protect community members by educating and preparing officers on how to respond to a mental health crisis on scene. Over 100 police officers and representatives from 20 agencies have participated in training to support individuals experiencing a mental health crisis. 

The organization also launch a purple light campaign to raise further awareness about suicide. Every September the county comes together and changes their porch light to purple all September to indicate hope and fight against suicide awareness. 

“August 2021, I walked into my house, and right outside my door on my lamp, I had a blue light for law enforcement, you know what Brianna always had a purple light in her room, it was the last thing I turned off. They had stories where people would go to the homeowner’s house with the light on and ask for help, and say they are on the verge of hurting themselves. A simple gesture of changing a light bulb turns the light off for hope because they are in a dark spot. When someone is in a mental health crisis, they can’t see their way out, but a purple light will show them their way out,” Dorgan said.

Shortly after Brianna’s passing, Dorgan had walked into her room to clean the room out, he found a shirt that says,” Keep fighting, I believe in you, you are a star.” 

It gave Dorgan peace of mind that what he was doing was worth everything; it was a sign to keep fighting for himself and for the community.

What does he hope people take from his loss?

 “Talk, open up, it’s okay not to be okay, we can’t stay that way, we need to start talking, you are gonna realize you’re not alone.”