Each month, Thurston Community Media (TCMedia)’s Mission Nonprofit connects with local organizations and agencies that are making positive impacts in our communities. This month, Mission Nonprofit host Robert Kam sat down with Zach Duncan, executive director for the Crisis Clinic. September is National Suicide Awareness and Prevention Month, making it a fitting time to learn about the local nonprofit.
Crisis Clinic has been helping people in Mason and Thurston counties for over 50 years. They got their start at The Evergreen State College, where they helped students living in the dorms. The nonprofit’s main focus is their 24 hour, 7 days a week free crisis intervention line. It’s one of the few crisis lines in the state that is still anonymous and confidential, unless there is concern of immediate danger, explains Duncan.
The phone lines are manned by volunteers and are always available or anyone needing to talk to someone.
In addition to the phone line, Crisis Clinic also provides resources and referrals; raises awareness and expands access to these services; and trains the community to prevent suicide. Volunteers help with all of these activities and, above all, show respect, compassion and empathy to everyone they interact with in a non-judgmental way.
“Thinking about National Suicide Awareness and Prevention Month, you know, that’s what we do right?” shares Duncan. “We’re sort of that safety net when it comes to folks having serious behavioral health crisis such as suicidal ideation, but we also go through the community, typically in schools, youth groups, other places where young people are to talk about suicide, which for young people it really just not talked about, right? It’s a big reason that young people don’t ask for help.”
Suicide and suicidal thoughts have increased over the past 30 years, particularly due to social media. The Crisis Line is always looking for volunteers to help man the phones, 24 hours a day.
For more information, watch the full video above and visit the Crisis Clinic website. If you need help, call 360.586.2800 24/7. Volunteers are standing by to take your call.
You can watch Mission Nonprofit on channel 77 on Sundays at 4:30 p.m., Tuesdays at 7 p.m., Thursdays at 7:30 p.m., and Saturdays at 6:30 p.m. You can also watch on TCMedia.org, Video On-Demand or our Roku channel. To learn more about what TCMedia does, visit the Thurston Community Media YouTube channel or the TC Media website and follow them on Facebook and Twitter.
