“Finally, they began to really see me,” says Sanchez, now 32 and a writer in Chicago . “And that’s when we began to have more honest conversations.”

“This is a very clear, but very overlooked trend,” says Dr. Luis Zayas , dean of the School of Social Work at the University of Texas at Austin, who is the foremost researcher studying Latina teens and suicide rates.

As a Latina from a working-class immigrant family, Sánchez says she often felt different from her peers growing up. But she didn’t always fit in among her family either. That left her feeling isolated and misunderstood.

A New York-based health and housing nonprofit, Comunilife, specifically addresses the Latina teen suicide epidemic through their “Life is Precious” program . In addition to educational support, art therapy and wellness activities, the program includes a strong family component.

Though Life is Precious has had exceptional results, it’s the only program in the country specifically designed for this population. That’s why Gil is working to get the program’s method certified as an evidence-based practice that is a “gold standard.”

After pushing for national attention for decades, Zayas says he’s similarly stunned. In 1995, a staggering 1 in 5 Latina teens attempted suicide, he says. “I thought attention would mount,” he says. “I don't have the resources or celebrity to do this myself. I’m just a researcher doing what I can.”