Today I saw the ominous heading in the Times Union online listing, "Cop Talks Man off Parking Garage Ledge," and of course I opened it. Reading through it, I thought to myself: "oh thank goodness he had been trained in crisis intervention, thank goodness he was calm, patient and understanding.... 90 minutes, yes, that's about how long it takes..."
In short, a cop was called to the Crowne Plaza parking lot tower in the early hours of this morning. He found the man perched on the top level, threatening to jump. He spoke to him for one and a half hours and in the end the man accepted help and was transported by Mobile Crisis to a medical facility for followup help.
The description of the man's problems was familiar to me and in fact to all of us who work at our center on the crisis lines (direct quote):
"The man told Dorsey [the cop]that he had been diagnosed with serious depression and that his mother had passed away recently. He said he was upset because he was unemployed and could not find a job. The man also said his medications and therapy were not working and he had decided he was going to take his life."
These are life situations we hear about every day on the phones. The pain of life, the feeling that things will not get better, the hopelessness and lonliness of the human condition - are all the essence of the calls received at our call center - 2-1-1, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline and the (local) CONTACT Lifeline (formerly known as the Samaritans Crisis Hotline).
Some of the real call situations we have received in the past week include: a woman trying to support a family of seven on a minimum wage job, an older man who is unemployed and prospects of finding a new job slim, a woman who has cancer and is worried about about how her daughter will cope after she is gone and a man living with schitozphrenia who is lonely and depressed and has no one else to talk to.
So the themes of loss, depression, unemployment and medications are familiar to us.
This man could have been one of our callers. Indeed, I have spoken to people on the phone that I could not be so assured of the outcome. Since they were on mobile phones or the number was blocked, we were unfortunately unable to send help to them. To this day, I am left unknowing what happened to them after they hung up, the real possibility lingering that I might have been the last person they spoke to before they died.
In other cases, we have talked to a sobbing woman for over an hour, helping her talk through her sorrow and hopelessness until she put the pills away. We have also spoken to the man who was threatening to hang himself but stayed on the phone long enough to change his mind accept our suggestion that we send emergency help to him for a transport to the hospital. In this call, the last person our volunteer spoke to was a police officer, thanking us for making the call and assuring us the man would be taken care of.
Working a crisis hotline is hard work. Being a cop is hard too. For one moment in time, what the cop did in the wee hours of this morning and what we do on the phones every day was identical. I thank god that Officer Dorsey used his ability to connect and build rapport with a fellow human in pain, to save this man's life.
Friday, October 8, 2010
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
SEFCU Community Expo - a Nice Surprise for United Way 2-1-1!
Yesterday, one of our long-time volunteers, Frieda, came into the office with a big smile on her face, carrying a large plastic laminated check for... $2,500 from SEFCU! The grin on her face erupting into laughter, she told me how she had won it for United Way 2-1-1 in a raffle at the SEFCU Community Expo on Sunday!
What a wonderful gift for our program. Anything earned this year will go towards chipping away at our deficit which looms large even this year. Efforts to find multiple sources to fund United Way 2-1-1 are ongoing and while I still remain perplexed at why New York State chose to disconinue funding to build the 2-1-1 system statewide, I remin firm in my conviction that a fully-funded and operational 2-1-1 system could be the true nexus of the human services system, where ever it exists.
In fact, if I were to dream of what 2-1-1 could do for the Capital Region - fully-funded - here is the beginning of my list....
In the meantime, I want to tell you one more thing about Frieda. She tells me that when the SEFCU spokesperson announced that they would now be presenting the winners of the non-for-profit raffle, she stood up and immediately started walking toward the stage. Something inside her had told her that she would be accepting an award for United Way 2-1-1. When United Way 2-1-1's name was pulled out of the box and the award was announced, she was already halfway up to the stage, and just kept on walking, big grin on her face.
Thank you Frieda! And a very big thank you to SEFCU! You have helped us get that much closer to the dream of what 2-1-1 can be for our community.
What a wonderful gift for our program. Anything earned this year will go towards chipping away at our deficit which looms large even this year. Efforts to find multiple sources to fund United Way 2-1-1 are ongoing and while I still remain perplexed at why New York State chose to disconinue funding to build the 2-1-1 system statewide, I remin firm in my conviction that a fully-funded and operational 2-1-1 system could be the true nexus of the human services system, where ever it exists.
In fact, if I were to dream of what 2-1-1 could do for the Capital Region - fully-funded - here is the beginning of my list....
- a service that all citizens would know about (just as they know about and use 9-1-1) and use all the time to connect them quickly (and courteously) to the services they need.
- a service that would help to demystify and destigmatize accessing human services.
- a service that could be accessed via online chat, texting and email as well as the easy-to-remember 2-1-1 phone number.
- a service that would also offer an easy-to-use online search platform, for anyone who prefers to search for services themselves.
- a service that identifies gaps in services and community needs as they are happening... and reports these to funders and decision-makers so they in turn can respond to the community.
- and so much more...
In the meantime, I want to tell you one more thing about Frieda. She tells me that when the SEFCU spokesperson announced that they would now be presenting the winners of the non-for-profit raffle, she stood up and immediately started walking toward the stage. Something inside her had told her that she would be accepting an award for United Way 2-1-1. When United Way 2-1-1's name was pulled out of the box and the award was announced, she was already halfway up to the stage, and just kept on walking, big grin on her face.
Thank you Frieda! And a very big thank you to SEFCU! You have helped us get that much closer to the dream of what 2-1-1 can be for our community.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
"I need help with my rent... zip code... 12180."
This morning I listened as one of my volunteers took a call. I knew immediately it was a Rensselaer County call regarding rental assistance. I heard her say, "Well, you first need to go to DSS and get a denial letter... and then go to the Roarke Center with that letter." I groaned internally, not because my volunteer had done anything wrong, but because I knew that this rigamarole of going to one office and then another, letter in hand, for an individual already stretched thin emotionally as well as financially, may or may not produce any results, and if it did, it would be a one time benefit of up to $200. Wonderful that the Roarke Center can provide anything at all... but woefully inadequate in the long term. People that struggle to pay rent don't just struggle for one month. Case in point: upon interviewing my volunteer after the call I found out that this caller had indeed already needed help paying rent in a previous month and had received a loan from DSS to cover this rent. Since that time she had been unable to re-pay that loan, making her definitely ineligible this time around for a second loan or any cash benefit at all.
The other reason I groaned at hearing this conversation is because I knew that if this caller had called just a month and a half prior - we would have had a better answer for her. Just one month ago a more generous rent assistance program had dried up - the program called the ECHO Project offered by a partnership between Joseph's House and Unity House in Troy. This program gleaned resources from federal stimulus funds for "Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing and the funds in the amount of $700,000 which were meant to last for 22 months and were completely depleted in 10 months. These funds provided short to medium term rental assistance and kept an estimated x households from entering homeless shelters and losing their apartments in those short 10 months. (specific stats forthcoming)
Besides being wonderful people who have helped so many people, Joseph's House has been 2-1-1's #1 referred agency in Rensselaer County since the inception of HPRP last October. Since that time 2-1-1 has referred 183 callers to the program.
While the HPRP funds were a wonderful addition to our database and we felt great referring 100's of people to it each month, that fact that people keep calling in Rensselaer County for rent assistance - after the funds have been depleted - tells us something about the reality of our economic situation and the need for a true longer term solution for it. As we look into the next year, it can be expected that all the HPRP federal stimulus funds will be depleted in all areas of the Capital Region - while the need for longer-term rental assistance will remain steady.
Nancy Chiarella, the Executive Director of CARES, a non-for-profit which coordinates funds and services among all homeless providers in a four county regions, let me know that a new initiative by the federal government, called the HEARTH Act, will provide some relief to the bleak resource landscape left in the wake of depleted HPRP funds. The HEARTH Act will not solve unaffordable housing problems in the Capital Region, but it will permanently provide Homelessness Prevention resources to the poor that need a longer term solution to unaffordable housing situations, unlike the one-time HPRP funds. These funds will not be available in the scope that HPRP funds were available, but are better than referrals to DSS and the Roarke Center which provide very temporary, one time solutions and are our current referrals.
Until the time that these funds roll into our region, we will painfully watch the receding funds and hope that a longer term solution to affordable housing problems (it will take more than HEARTH Act funds) comes to the families that need it, many of them families that call 2-1-1.
The other reason I groaned at hearing this conversation is because I knew that if this caller had called just a month and a half prior - we would have had a better answer for her. Just one month ago a more generous rent assistance program had dried up - the program called the ECHO Project offered by a partnership between Joseph's House and Unity House in Troy. This program gleaned resources from federal stimulus funds for "Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing and the funds in the amount of $700,000 which were meant to last for 22 months and were completely depleted in 10 months. These funds provided short to medium term rental assistance and kept an estimated x households from entering homeless shelters and losing their apartments in those short 10 months. (specific stats forthcoming)
Besides being wonderful people who have helped so many people, Joseph's House has been 2-1-1's #1 referred agency in Rensselaer County since the inception of HPRP last October. Since that time 2-1-1 has referred 183 callers to the program.
While the HPRP funds were a wonderful addition to our database and we felt great referring 100's of people to it each month, that fact that people keep calling in Rensselaer County for rent assistance - after the funds have been depleted - tells us something about the reality of our economic situation and the need for a true longer term solution for it. As we look into the next year, it can be expected that all the HPRP federal stimulus funds will be depleted in all areas of the Capital Region - while the need for longer-term rental assistance will remain steady.
Nancy Chiarella, the Executive Director of CARES, a non-for-profit which coordinates funds and services among all homeless providers in a four county regions, let me know that a new initiative by the federal government, called the HEARTH Act, will provide some relief to the bleak resource landscape left in the wake of depleted HPRP funds. The HEARTH Act will not solve unaffordable housing problems in the Capital Region, but it will permanently provide Homelessness Prevention resources to the poor that need a longer term solution to unaffordable housing situations, unlike the one-time HPRP funds. These funds will not be available in the scope that HPRP funds were available, but are better than referrals to DSS and the Roarke Center which provide very temporary, one time solutions and are our current referrals.
Until the time that these funds roll into our region, we will painfully watch the receding funds and hope that a longer term solution to affordable housing problems (it will take more than HEARTH Act funds) comes to the families that need it, many of them families that call 2-1-1.
Friday, September 24, 2010
South End Partnership Barbeque
Yesterday, just as I was thinking about what types of stories may fall out of the sky around 2-1-1, I spoke to Terilee Dodge on the phone. I had just meet Terrilee on Tuesday at our big event co-sponsored with the Albany Police Department, which turned out to be highly successful because we engaged so many human service providers on the meaning and value of 2-1-1 right here in our local community. Terrilee is the Community Liaison for the Albany County Department of Children Youth and Family, and she had the perfect story for me - a story to illuminate the exact point that we tried to convey at the event on the 21st!
Terrilee related to me how she is the coordinator of the South End Partnership, a collaboration of human service agencies and religious organizations that serve the South End of Albany. She said that every so often they have a spontaneous street barbeque. One party brings 50 hotdogs, another provides 50 hamburgers, another provides 50 hamburger buns another brings 50 buns, another provides the grill and a last party brings chips and juice. They set up the grill on an agreed upon corner and start grilling. In the process, they serve up 50 hotdogs, 50 hamburgers, chips and juice boxes and talk with the community members that come out about any needs and services available, building relationships the whole time.
Terrilee told me that a little girl came up to her as she was at the grill and politely said, "umm excuse me, my mommy needs help paying the rent, can you help?" Terrilee was happy that she knew the right answer to give the little girl, having just come from our event with the APD that very day. She said, "Yes, I am going to give you a phone number so you can help your mommy, do you think you can remember it?" The little girl looked at her dubiously. Terrilee continued, "Well, I think you can remember, it, ready...?" The little girl, wide-eyed, listened to her. Terrilee said, "Tell your mommy to call 2-1-1, that's it, 2-1-1."
Over the course of the BBQ, Terrilee caught glimpses of the little girl several times and made sure to quiz her, "What is the number you are going to call?" And the little girl remembered each time, her smile growing.
As Terrilee tells me, in the "old" days before 2-1-1, this simple question from this girl would have caused all seven of the service providers from the South End Partnership, all standing there grilling and serving up hot dogs, into a full blown discussion, back and forth between each other, until after much deliberation, several seven digit numbers, names of people and agencies would have been handed over to the little girl on a peice of paper that may or may not made it back to her mom. And with so many factors unknown (is the family on the verge of eviction, has the mom lost her job, for how long, has she asked for help or not and how much income is coming into the household?) it would have been hard to provide the right referrals on the spot.
Terrilee relays that it was a big relief to be able to give this little girl a number even she could remember and know that 2-1-1 would be able to sort it all the unique circumstances of the situation on our end, providing referrals in possibly many need areas by the end of the call. Indeed we are happy to do so!
Thanks Terrilee for the illuminating example and I look forward to continued conversations with you and other colleagues in the human services community. :)
Terrilee related to me how she is the coordinator of the South End Partnership, a collaboration of human service agencies and religious organizations that serve the South End of Albany. She said that every so often they have a spontaneous street barbeque. One party brings 50 hotdogs, another provides 50 hamburgers, another provides 50 hamburger buns another brings 50 buns, another provides the grill and a last party brings chips and juice. They set up the grill on an agreed upon corner and start grilling. In the process, they serve up 50 hotdogs, 50 hamburgers, chips and juice boxes and talk with the community members that come out about any needs and services available, building relationships the whole time.
Terrilee told me that a little girl came up to her as she was at the grill and politely said, "umm excuse me, my mommy needs help paying the rent, can you help?" Terrilee was happy that she knew the right answer to give the little girl, having just come from our event with the APD that very day. She said, "Yes, I am going to give you a phone number so you can help your mommy, do you think you can remember it?" The little girl looked at her dubiously. Terrilee continued, "Well, I think you can remember, it, ready...?" The little girl, wide-eyed, listened to her. Terrilee said, "Tell your mommy to call 2-1-1, that's it, 2-1-1."
Over the course of the BBQ, Terrilee caught glimpses of the little girl several times and made sure to quiz her, "What is the number you are going to call?" And the little girl remembered each time, her smile growing.
As Terrilee tells me, in the "old" days before 2-1-1, this simple question from this girl would have caused all seven of the service providers from the South End Partnership, all standing there grilling and serving up hot dogs, into a full blown discussion, back and forth between each other, until after much deliberation, several seven digit numbers, names of people and agencies would have been handed over to the little girl on a peice of paper that may or may not made it back to her mom. And with so many factors unknown (is the family on the verge of eviction, has the mom lost her job, for how long, has she asked for help or not and how much income is coming into the household?) it would have been hard to provide the right referrals on the spot.
Terrilee relays that it was a big relief to be able to give this little girl a number even she could remember and know that 2-1-1 would be able to sort it all the unique circumstances of the situation on our end, providing referrals in possibly many need areas by the end of the call. Indeed we are happy to do so!
Thanks Terrilee for the illuminating example and I look forward to continued conversations with you and other colleagues in the human services community. :)
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