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Resource Report - 20 Crisis Clinic of Thurston & Mason Counties · Resource Report

0:20
Hello and welcome to Resource Report, where we
0:22
share with you important information about local
0:25
nonprofits and resource organizations that support
0:29
the community we share, produced by Pathways
0:32
to Agency. I am your host, Rainmaker. Today's
0:36
guest is Holly Wetzel, Executive Director of
0:39
the Crisis Clinic of Thurston and Mason Counties.
0:42
We were able to record most of the interview
0:45
here at Chaos, but later I did need to follow
0:48
up with Holly over the phone. Here's Holly. I
0:57
am here at Chaos radio station with Holly Wetzel
1:02
of the Crisis Clinic. How are you doing today,
1:06
Holly? Not too bad. How about yourself? I'm doing
1:09
quite good. Can you please introduce yourself,
1:13
your position at the crisis clinic, and how did
1:16
you come to be here at the crisis clinic? Yeah.
1:20
So I am the new executive director of the crisis
1:23
clinic at Thurston Mason Counties. I just started
1:25
earlier this month. Brand new. Yes, brand new.
1:29
But I had previously been with the organization
1:31
since April of 2022. I initially started as a
1:35
volunteer crisis advocate. At the time, I had
1:38
been working in the hospital and would interact
1:40
with patients. And I personally felt like I didn't
1:43
have the skill set to be able to properly support
1:45
them as they would vent to me about their basic
1:48
needs and securities, as well as the mental challenges
1:51
they were experiencing in the hospital. So in
1:54
wanting to give back to the community and also
1:56
be able to gain that skill set myself, I sought
1:58
out the Crisis Clinic of Thurston Mason Counties
2:01
to be able to volunteer, give back, and also
2:04
gain that skill set. As a part of our volunteer
2:07
onboarding program, we will pair experienced
2:11
crisis advocates with our new crisis advocates.
2:14
So after I had become more familiar with the
2:16
phones, the executive director and the staff
2:19
team at the time would pair the new volunteers
2:21
with me. to be trained on the phone lines. And
2:25
what was really impactful at that time is I was
2:30
able to see how we were training our volunteers
2:33
and what opportunities there would be to strengthen
2:37
our training to better support our crisis advocates
2:40
when answering the calls on the phone. So I had
2:43
approached our executive director at the time
2:45
saying, hey. I would love to support updating
2:48
our crisis training. I come from a background
2:51
that's a little bit more technical. And what
2:53
is industry standard for our space now is having
2:56
a synchronous online piece where crisis advocates
3:01
could learn online and then come into practice
3:04
everything that they need to know with regards
3:08
to answering the phones. And at that time, the
3:12
executive director said, why don't I pay you
3:14
to do it? So after that, I joined the staff team,
3:18
had been there for about two years, and then
3:21
I left the organization. But when they were in
3:24
need of another executive director, I couldn't
3:26
say no. That's awesome. What a fabulous journey.
3:31
Yeah. Yeah. And then getting more detailed on
3:36
that, I think everybody kind of knows that the
3:39
crisis clinic is a place that you can call and
3:42
just talk to somebody. But I think that there's
3:45
more to it than that. So what is the crisis clinic?
3:48
Yes. So I'll start with our mission statement
3:51
in regards to that. What we hope to do through
3:55
our work at the crisis clinic is to ultimately
3:57
create a community where everyone in crisis has
4:01
the support they need to survive and thrive.
4:04
Now, what that means to us is, and I'll ask you
4:07
this, have you heard of the phrase social determinants
4:10
of health? No. So what that means is your environment
4:15
ultimately impacts your health outcomes. So if
4:19
you grow up in an area where you don't have access
4:21
to nutritious food, or you don't have access
4:24
to education, accessible healthcare, or just
4:30
grow up in a safe physical environment, all of
4:32
those factors directly relate to your ability
4:35
to have health. So when thinking about our mission
4:39
and why we want people to survive and thrive,
4:41
what we're talking about is helping people address
4:44
the root causes of their crisis, making sure
4:47
that they not only receive the emotional support
4:51
that they need, but the resources they need to
4:53
stabilize their lives so they can survive and
4:56
thrive. And for us, what that means is providing
4:59
crisis intervention, but also providing resource
5:02
referrals to other resources in the community
5:05
so after their crisis, they're able to reach
5:07
out and begin to stabilize their life so they
5:09
can thrive. Wow, that's fabulous. That's like
5:13
so well -rounded. Covering all bases. I love
5:18
that. Thank you. Yeah. And how long has the crisis
5:22
clinic been around? The crisis clinic has been
5:25
around since 1972. We were initially part of
5:30
a merger of four after hours. At that time, that
5:34
was Community Mental Health, Youth Emergency
5:36
Services, Interaction Foundation, and the Evergreen
5:41
State College. Evergreen State College actually
5:43
has quite a significant history with regards
5:46
to the crisis clinic because they had so many
5:49
of their students coming to volunteer for us
5:52
that they actually donated a dorm room for us
5:54
to operate out of for many years. Wow. So now
5:58
we operate in a... different confidential location,
6:03
but we've been around since 1972, so over 50
6:07
years, and we've expanded multiple times since
6:10
then. In 1989, that was when we opened up our
6:14
first teen youth hotline. That is a four -youth
6:17
-by -youth service that we run, and that initially
6:20
started after we provided a suicide awareness
6:23
presentation to some students in Olympia High
6:27
School, and they had presented to the staff at
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the time. Why don't we have a teen line? And
6:31
then we went to go on and make that. That's awesome.
6:34
That's a great segue into explaining what services
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the crisis clinic offers. Yeah. So what we offer
6:43
today is largely the same that we've done towards
6:46
the start. We provide a 24 -7 volunteer -powered
6:50
crisis hotline where our trained crisis advocates
6:53
will answer calls. all hours of the day. We have
6:58
our dedicated youth and teen line that's answered
7:00
by our trained youth and young adult volunteers
7:03
for the youth in our community that need that
7:05
additional support. We also provide suicide prevention
7:09
education as well as community trainings for
7:12
individuals related to crisis response, active
7:15
listening, and understanding and destigmatizing
7:18
mental health. We also provide resource navigation.
7:21
So this is linking callers to community resources.
7:25
We also keep an up -to -date list on our website
7:28
of community resources for both Thurston and
7:30
Mason County. So if we have callers who just
7:33
want to go on our website, they can go and see
7:36
all the community resources that are available
7:38
in the community. Yeah, and I've seen that list.
7:40
It's pretty extensive. Oh, yes. Yes, and we have
7:44
volunteers who will go in and update it all the
7:47
time. Oh, good. That's an issue sometimes is
7:51
making sure the resource lists are updated. Lots
7:54
of these organizations have resource lists. No,
8:00
they do. And we try to make sure that... All
8:04
of our crisis advocates, when they're trained,
8:07
they are well informed about the resources that
8:11
each could provide. We try not to just provide
8:14
a number to the caller and send them on their
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way. We try to walk them through what it would
8:19
look like to call, what kind of services they
8:21
provide to try and demystify the process so they
8:24
can better understand what will happen when they
8:27
call. Give them the deep dive. Exactly. Give
8:30
them the deep dive as much as we can. And make
8:33
them feel confident and comfortable. Because
8:36
when you call the crisis clinic, it's already
8:39
an incredibly brave thing to do. That is admitting
8:44
and acknowledging that you need support. And
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that is not easy. So to call us to... Get that
8:53
support and then decide that, yes, I want additional
8:57
support from another resource that could better
8:59
support me going forward. We really want to make
9:03
sure that they feel confident to be able to follow
9:05
through on that. Definitely. Our calls can range
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from a variety of acuity levels. We could have
9:14
callers who just need someone to talk to, to
9:16
vent. They may need just emergency housing, a
9:20
community resource. Or they may be having thoughts
9:23
of suicide. Just in 2024 alone, we had over 500
9:28
suicide de -escalations. So the need in our community
9:32
is so strong for our services. Wow, yeah. You
9:37
know, I've actually, I went through a dark phase
9:41
myself. some struggles in 2021. And I also called
9:48
the crisis line. And I found it very helpful.
9:51
And I've never in my life, been someone to make
9:56
those kinds of calls, I would reach out to friends,
9:58
you know, when it was that bad. But I was really
10:03
at the end of everything. I've already I had
10:05
already talked to all of my friends, I was having
10:08
a breakdown at like 3am. And My therapist had
10:14
given me the number and I tried it. And let me
10:18
tell you, like four different occasions pulled
10:22
me out of the dark. It was really helpful. You
10:26
know, just throwing it out there for people who
10:28
may also like me be hesitant in that way. Yeah,
10:34
do it. They're there. And we always are. And
10:38
I think. Thank you for sharing your story too.
10:41
And I think part of de -stigmatizing this process
10:44
is being able to talk about it and share with
10:47
people their stories. And that's what we try
10:49
to do when we go out in the community. And as
10:53
a society, I believe we've done a lot of good
10:56
demystifying mental health, but there's still
10:59
so much more to be done. For sure. And sometimes
11:02
that comes from generational challenges, you
11:07
know. Like older people are going to think of
11:12
mental health as in a much different kind of
11:15
way than younger generations. And then also younger
11:23
generations might too be getting their ideas
11:27
around what's appropriate, not appropriate to
11:32
emotionally express. you know, based on their
11:36
own family's ideas, which also can carry stigmas,
11:41
you know. So definitely reaching across the generations,
11:45
you know, to say, you know, let's normalize open
11:50
conversation and awareness around mental health
11:55
issues. And especially with everything going
11:58
on in the world today, you know, we definitely
12:02
need it. Absolutely. And we've started to see
12:06
that in our call volume too. We've had, I just
12:09
checked on this number recently, among youth,
12:12
we've seen three times the amount of youth call
12:14
compared to the previous year. And most of them
12:16
are LGBT adult self -identifying youth. On one
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hand, that's like horrible to hear because so
12:26
many people, but on the other hand, that's wonderful
12:29
to hear because these people. are reaching out
12:32
and you have more positive outcomes by doing
12:38
so. And what I think is so special about the
12:44
crisis clinic is that we are local. We have people
12:48
who know this community and they have that situational
12:52
awareness that when a caller calls and says that
12:55
this is happening. they can be able to provide
12:59
that support that is locally informed. That has
13:02
been one of our core values at the crisis clinic
13:05
is making sure that the confidentiality of not
13:07
just our callers, but our volunteers are kept
13:10
private. Yeah, for sure. And to speak on that
13:13
myself, I didn't really realize that it was a
13:17
confidential location. And then when we were
13:20
setting up the appointment for this interview,
13:23
we were originally going to do it on site. And
13:26
I had to sign a I promise not to reveal this
13:31
location waiver and send that back. So that that
13:35
was like, wow. OK, so I guess that would even
13:39
protect the the workers. Yes. Yeah. Because we
13:43
when people volunteer to. support our community
13:48
in this way where you hear people in their darkest
13:51
moments. We want to make sure that our volunteers
13:55
are protected and that they feel safe being in
14:00
this space. We do not record or transcribe our
14:04
calls. What you say on the phone stays between
14:07
you and our trained crisis advocate. Also, because
14:11
we're also starting to see this in the mental
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health space, we don't utilize AI. or any of
14:18
those services in ours. We've started to see
14:20
that in other spaces in mental health. That's
14:24
not something we will do or ever consider. So
14:29
anything that we do document is aggregated and
14:33
completely anonymized. It's not tied to your
14:35
name. It's not tied to your phone number or anything
14:38
that personally could identify you. Our database
14:41
is HIPAA compliant. And we don't store any personally
14:45
identifying information in that anyway. The only
14:48
reason why we collect data is really just to
14:51
keep the lights on to be able to measure our
14:54
impact for the purposes of grant writing. So
14:57
for example, how many suicide -related calls
14:59
we've de -escalated in 2024. That comes from
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our volunteer just checking a box after they
15:05
log a call to say that this call was related
15:08
to this. We don't record any... call -specific
15:12
information. It is just demographic -type information
15:16
about what the call was about. That's it. You
15:27
are listening to Resource Report on Chaos. We
15:31
will be right back after this message from the
15:33
Crisis Clinic, so stay tuned. We are just getting
15:36
started on the deep dive. Are you empathetic,
15:40
mature, and self -aware? Then the crisis clinic
15:42
needs you. The crisis clinic of Thurston and
15:45
Mason counties provides intervention and emotional
15:48
support through a 24 -7 telephone helpline. To
15:51
the crisis clinic, no crisis is too small. If
15:54
you want to help bring compassion, energy, and
15:56
care to your community, you can contact the crisis
15:59
clinic and become a volunteer. To find out more,
16:01
visit crisis -clinic .org or call 360 -586 -2888.
16:09
Welcome back to Resource Report. Let's continue
16:12
with my guest, Holly Wetzel, Executive Director
16:15
of the Crisis Clinic of Thurston and Mason Counties.
16:25
I think I remember on one of the times that I
16:30
called, or maybe all of the times that I called,
16:38
either never asked my name or i was i was told
16:44
you know if it's comfortable for you you can
16:47
tell me your name or something like that you
16:50
know so they know how how to communicate with
16:52
me um i've i've never been able to receive a
16:57
name of who i'm talking to you know um Not that
17:03
I was really trying, but, you know, like I think
17:06
one time I did ask, you know, I did offer my
17:12
name because of conversation styles, you know,
17:16
and asked, you know, and I was like, I was told,
17:20
sorry, we have to let that be confidential, you
17:23
know. And so that. I was like, I thought about
17:27
that for a minute. I was like, well, that makes
17:28
sense. You know, that's good. You know, I was
17:31
like, well, that's good. Good, good, good, good.
17:33
And that just actually made me feel safer to
17:36
know that the crisis clinics, volunteers are
17:43
also protected in that way. So they're valuing
17:47
everyone's confidentiality. Yeah. Yeah, and also
17:54
going off of that, I noticed on your website
17:58
you have a little tab or link at the very top
18:03
of the screen. Escape to yahoo .com. Yes, this
18:09
is something that's become more common practice,
18:12
but it can be risky to look up crisis support
18:16
services. And we especially see this with our
18:19
callers who are experiencing intimate partner
18:22
violence. violence where they need to get that
18:26
information, but it's possible that they have
18:29
someone looking over their shoulder and they
18:32
don't want them to find out. So having that quick
18:35
button on our website is very intentional to
18:39
make sure that our callers or rather anyone who's
18:43
researching whether or not to give us a call
18:46
or to find any of our community resources that
18:50
are available on our website. That they can quickly
18:54
press that button so they go to what is considered
18:57
a safe website that doesn't raise any suspicion.
19:00
Yeah, that's wonderful to know. And I tried it
19:04
out myself. And it goes straight to yahoo .com.
19:07
And you can navigate from anywhere else you want
19:10
to there. Also, another issue I want to mention
19:17
is mandated reporting. Yes. So we are mandated
19:23
reporters, but we do approach it in a way that
19:26
keeps the caller in control. So if our volunteers
19:30
hear a conversation involving immediate danger
19:33
or any reason why they would need to make a report.
19:37
We explain to the caller that we are a mandated
19:40
reporter so they can determine if they want to
19:44
continue sharing details. Sometimes when we share
19:47
that we are a mandated reporter, we will get
19:49
callers volunteer even more information so that
19:52
we can make a report. That's really good to know.
19:56
There is a lot of fear and stigma also around
19:59
mandated reporting. People are afraid of, you
20:04
know, there's help and then there's help that's
20:07
not helpful. And then they're the ones that get
20:09
in trouble for something. And not knowing which
20:13
direction that can go in can cause concern for
20:17
sharing. actually does. We want to make sure
20:35
that our callers are making an informed decision.
20:39
So you said people might be calling for more
20:44
reasons than just because they're in a mental
20:48
health challenging crisis and the different things
20:53
that that might be related to. And we were also
20:56
talking about the resource list. So I'd like
21:00
to ask you to talk about that, like what kind
21:04
of other challenges at the crisis clinic y 'all
21:07
deal with and how y 'all deal with that. And
21:10
since you have that resource list, are you working
21:14
with other organizations? It's a big loaded question.
21:19
It is a big loaded question. What I will say
21:24
is we have now more than ever, we are seeing
21:30
from our callers and really from our community
21:33
that they are experiencing more, like you said,
21:40
more than just a mental health challenge. They
21:43
could be experiencing substance use and inability
21:48
to find housing or access to food or other basic,
21:53
they experience other basic needs challenges.
21:55
And that all manifests in a call. We provide
21:59
the referrals. We can walk callers through what
22:02
it's like to call those organizations. But we
22:05
don't have as complex of a system where we can
22:10
connect them to a specific person. Like, for
22:13
example, if we have a caller that's a youth and
22:17
they could benefit from community youth services,
22:19
we can walk them through what community youth
22:22
services does, what support services there could
22:25
be for them. etc, etc. But we don't have a specific
22:29
person that we can connect them to, like we could
22:33
if we were more interconnected with other nonprofits
22:36
and our community resources. So What I will say,
22:40
though, is while we still have room for growth
22:43
with regards to having closer community relationships
22:47
with the other nonprofits that serve our community,
22:50
one partnership that we're particularly proud
22:53
of is our partnership with Evergreen State College
22:56
and St. Martin's University. And I'll ask you
22:59
this. Did you know that Washington State has
23:02
a behavioral health worker shortage, especially
23:05
in rural Mason County? Wow. Yes. And would you
23:10
believe that one -fourth of Washingtonians don't
23:13
have access to mental health services? I could
23:16
believe that. Mental health service is a challenge.
23:20
Yes. Now, to address this, the crisis clinic
23:24
for many years has partnered both with St. Martin's
23:27
and Evergreen to develop and grow the next generation
23:31
of behavioral health professionals, social workers,
23:35
therapists. What we do is we provide practicum
23:42
and internship opportunities at the crisis clinic
23:45
to provide that opportunity for the next generation
23:49
of behavioral health workers to have that hands
23:52
-on training to be able to serve our community.
23:55
And we train about 40 interns a year through
24:01
the crisis clinic, and they go on to serve our
24:03
community. I view the crisis clinic as an integral
24:10
part to our behavioral health workforce in this
24:13
community. Wow. That's really great. Like I knew
24:17
the crisis clinic was a big thing, but I didn't
24:20
realize it was that big. And that's really good
24:23
to know. And then that segues into community
24:28
trainings. Yes. So we, as of right now, We're
24:33
working on our current offerings for what we
24:36
want to be able to provide to the community,
24:38
but what we will always continue to offer is
24:41
our suicide prevention trainings. We currently
24:45
provide these at no cost to our local school
24:47
districts because we especially see that need
24:50
for youth, but we provide this as a fee -based
24:53
service to other organizations just to sustain
24:55
the program. That's wonderful. that there's a
25:02
cost, there's the option of how many people are
25:05
there for the training. Where do you have the
25:08
trainings? And is it like a thing that organizations
25:11
come and have these trainings or is the thing
25:15
that like just general community members, they
25:19
want to find out more, like tell me more about
25:23
those trainings. So we've done both. Our primary
25:27
demographic aside from the, our local school
25:30
districts is actually other nonprofits. One of
25:34
our most recent trainings we did at the Thurston
25:36
County Food Bank, and that was on levels of listening,
25:39
really teaching the volunteers and employees
25:44
there on how to listen in the same way that if
25:51
you were, say, a crisis phone line advocate,
25:53
because there's that reflective listening and
25:56
then there's active listening. Being able to
25:58
actually internalize what people are saying and
26:01
being able to reflect that back to really understand
26:04
where they're coming from and to be able to properly
26:09
support them. Yeah, for sure. And so is it a
26:14
thing that you can just sign up and attend a
26:17
community training that? you're putting out there
26:21
advertising that we're having this training coming
26:24
up and people sign up for? Or is it a thing that
26:28
like a group reaches out and requests a training
26:33
and this is how many people we're going to have
26:34
for it and that kind of thing? Historically,
26:37
we've had both options. As of right now, we're
26:40
doing it on an organization by organization basis.
26:43
Going forward, it... It's a model that we're
26:46
looking at that we can have members of the community
26:48
come in and be able to learn these skills. Because
26:51
ultimately, we believe everyone should have this
26:55
skill set. It supports the resiliency of our
26:58
community and being able to better support each
27:00
other. And if we're able to provide that for
27:04
more people in the community, everyone succeeds.
27:13
What does a community training curriculum look
27:16
like? In the case of our youth suicide prevention
27:22
training, in particular for youth, what we cover
27:25
is suicide prevention, warning signs, signs of
27:30
suicide, phrases and ways that you could support
27:33
others if you have a friend or close family member
27:36
or anyone that you care about. how that's experiencing
27:40
this crisis, what they, some helpful phrases
27:44
and helpful techniques in order to support them,
27:47
as well as going over some myths related to suicide.
27:52
That's good to know. And then that's like for,
27:55
there's a youth, it was the youth, and then you
27:58
have like a more adult -oriented training as
28:02
well. And so you have two different curriculums,
28:05
is that right? Two, it's... Both are very, very
28:08
similar. It's more of a matter of delivery. Okay.
28:12
Okay. And then are there other trainings that
28:16
are related to other mental health issues besides
28:19
suicide? We used to do a substance use training
28:24
in the community quite a few years ago. And that's
28:27
something that we're looking to bring back. But
28:29
at this time, we're reevaluating what community
28:32
trainings we're going to offer going forward
28:34
and how we would like to upgrade those. And so
28:37
you're looking at the need and comparing that
28:40
need. Like, for example, when you mentioned how
28:43
many suicide ideation calls you've had versus
28:46
like substance abuse calls or something like
28:49
that. Okay. Okay. That's good to know. We try
28:53
to have everything that we do at the crisis clinic
28:56
center. on what our community needs it doesn't
28:59
do us any good to just assume what the community
29:02
needs we want to be very close we have the benefit
29:06
of being so close to the community and being
29:08
grassroots community driven so making sure that
29:11
we're leaning in and hearing what is needed right
29:22
And then let's talk about volunteering, internships,
29:26
donations. How can people get involved? Yes.
29:29
So if you're interested in volunteering with
29:32
us and you may feel a little bit nervous, don't
29:37
be. You don't need to have a background in mental
29:39
health in order to be a volunteer crisis advocate
29:42
with us. If you're a good listener and you're
29:45
open to learning and growing and believe that
29:47
no one in our community should be going through
29:49
crisis alone, that's all you need. We'll teach
29:52
you the rest. Each crisis advocate goes through
29:55
an intensive interactive training that gives
29:58
you the tools in order to take those calls and
30:01
answer them with confidence. That is a... five
30:06
to six week training, that's fairly intensive.
30:09
We really want to make sure that you are as confident
30:13
answering those calls as you can be. And if you're
30:17
not interested in being a phone line volunteer,
30:19
that is absolutely okay. We have other opportunities
30:23
to be involved. What are those opportunities?
30:26
We have administrative opportunities. Community
30:29
outreach is one that we're actively looking for
30:32
some support with, for sure. With regards to
30:37
work, study, and internship right now is we have
30:41
an exclusive opportunity for Evergreen students
30:43
going on right now. We have multiple work -study
30:47
positions that are available through Evergreen's
30:49
community -based learning. Yes. So we have three.
30:59
work -study positions available through that.
31:01
We have an outreach coordinator, a community
31:04
educational coordinator, which the community
31:07
education coordinator, whoever we bring on into
31:11
that role, will be directly supporting our work
31:14
for more community education trainings. And then
31:18
we're also looking for an administrative assistant.
31:20
Okay. So talk about the outreach. So if you and
31:32
with the volunteering outreach, what what is
31:34
entailed in that? Yes. So our volunteers at outreach
31:38
are the ones who would be going to community
31:41
resource fairs to be present and tabling resource
31:45
fairs. OK. Being visible. That part of that also
31:50
means putting up flyers in the community. I don't
31:53
know if you've walked around downtown at all,
31:55
but we'll have little poll tabs that have our
31:57
phone number on it and some information. I have
31:59
seen those when I. Yes. Now those get pulled.
32:03
Fairly often they'll start to run out. So every
32:06
once in a while we'll need someone to go around
32:08
town and especially in Mason County, too, because
32:12
we want to make sure that they have just as much
32:14
access as we do here in Thurston County, making
32:17
sure that they have that they're well stocked,
32:21
too. So a lot of that outreach activity is just
32:25
making sure our flyers are up and posted up to
32:28
date and being visible at community resource
32:30
fairs. Awesome. And then back to volunteering,
32:35
you're talking about the intensive five week.
32:38
So break that down for me. What does it look
32:41
like to be a volunteer? Like what's the process
32:43
that you become a volunteer? What does the training
32:47
look like for a volunteer? Absolutely. So we
32:50
do have an intensive training because what our
32:54
volunteers are expected to do is very important
32:56
work. So we want to make sure that they're equipped
32:58
for any scenario they can encounter on the phones.
33:01
So we go over crisis intervention, boundaries,
33:05
suicide assessment, go over intimate partner
33:08
violence, talk about the designated crisis responders
33:11
and what their role is in the mental health sphere
33:15
in our community, talking about youth teen mental
33:18
health crisis. talk about mental health, chemical
33:23
dependency. We also have a cultural competency
33:26
lens to all the work that we do to make sure
33:29
that we're really grounding all of our work in
33:31
a way that is well -informed. But I think most
33:35
importantly at all, we always talk about self
33:39
-care because as a crisis, as a phone line volunteer,
33:45
you cannot pour from an empty cup. Definitely.
33:48
Yeah. That they're good when they come in to
33:53
receive calls. Yeah. So it's a five -week training.
33:59
What's the schedule on that? Is it like how many
34:03
days a week? Yes. So we've changed this recently
34:07
in the last couple years to accommodate just
34:11
what's more common with industry standard. Before
34:14
we used to have it so all of our volunteers would
34:17
come in. Multiple times in a week, they would
34:20
be here on site for multiple hours where we'd
34:24
train them. Now it's a much more of a flipped
34:27
classroom environment where they learn the content
34:30
online, where they apply through quizzes and
34:33
activities, listen to demonstrations that we've
34:37
put together online. So when they come in each
34:40
week, they're ready to apply with our trainers.
34:44
Okay, so you sign up to be a volunteer. You go
34:47
through the training module. And is that paced?
34:51
Yes. Okay. So it's paced because we don't want
34:55
our volunteers to just fly through it. So they
34:58
stay on track with the cohort where our first
35:01
week we talk about crisis. The next week they
35:04
go through the curriculum on their own time to
35:07
go over suicide or whatever the topic is for
35:11
that week. And then they would come in and do,
35:14
they would practice. So we have that opportunity
35:18
for Q &A where they can say, hey, this was said
35:22
in the module. Because usually if one person
35:24
has a question, multiple people have a question.
35:27
So going over, review, answering questions, and
35:32
then pairing off with our trainers to practice.
35:37
Like do a role play. Exactly. Okay. Yes. Okay.
35:40
So let me just make sure I've got this straight.
35:43
So you wait until you get a number of people
35:48
to sign up for a training. And then when you
35:52
have that many people, then you go, okay, we're
35:56
going to begin at this time. And then everybody
36:00
goes through the module. the first section and
36:05
then you'll have a in -person. Yes. And then
36:08
after the in -person, everybody goes back and
36:11
does the next part of the module and then in
36:14
-person. So the module would be like through
36:16
the week with a one in -person session a week?
36:20
Correct. Okay. And once they have completed the
36:24
crisis 101 and suicide training, Then we have
36:28
our prospective volunteers come in and in addition
36:32
to those, do a shadow shift. That's where we
36:37
pair our experienced volunteers with our trainees
36:42
who are coming on. And that's what you mentioned
36:44
in our introduction. Exactly. Okay. And then
36:48
it cycles around and then they get to have their
36:52
hands on. And then the person that they shadowed,
36:57
their trainer, would be sitting there watching
36:59
them. Yes. Watching and listening and providing
37:02
that support in the moment as well as debriefing
37:06
after the call. We always want to make sure that
37:10
our phone line volunteers, they feel confident
37:14
going on the lines. Yeah. So sometimes after
37:18
they've gone through the curriculum, some of
37:20
our volunteers needed an additional couple phone
37:23
line shifts where they're shadowing and they
37:25
have someone with them to just say, hey, can
37:27
you make sure I'm doing this right for a little
37:29
bit? And that's totally OK. We want to make sure
37:31
that you're comfortable and confident. So when
37:33
you're on the phone lines, you know what to do
37:37
and you feel comfortable. So the way that it's
37:40
determined that. a new volunteer is ready to
37:44
do the phone line on their own it's a mutual
37:46
thing so it's like the new volunteer would say
37:50
yeah i think i feel ready now and then the the
37:53
trainer person would go yeah i think you're ready
37:56
now exactly okay and that can take as long as
37:59
it needs to yes we've had people come through
38:03
that you know after the first few shadow shifts
38:06
They feel it's like, I'm good. I'm good to go.
38:08
Usually those are the ones who have some kind
38:11
of a background in social services or they've
38:14
worked closer with the type of community of people
38:17
that call us. Or have had experiences. Experiences
38:20
themselves too. And whereas we have some others
38:24
that maybe they need an additional month of shadow
38:27
shifts. That's totally okay. Awesome. So why
38:33
do volunteers choose to stay involved with the
38:36
crisis clinic? It sounds like it's really stressful
38:39
work, but people love it. Absolutely. One of
38:44
the most common things that we hear from our
38:46
volunteers is that they came to the crisis clinic
38:49
because they wanted to make a difference in the
38:51
community for sure. But what really keeps them
38:54
around is because the experience of volunteering
38:57
with us ultimately gives back to them. Volunteering
39:00
with the crisis clinic, and I can't reiterate
39:02
this enough, is truly transformative. And that's
39:05
just speaking as someone who... previously came
39:09
in as a volunteer. You really see that through
39:12
our training. You learn active listening skills,
39:15
how to deescalate crisis, and how to guide people
39:19
towards finding their own solutions. Many of
39:22
our volunteers say that it's this training that
39:25
changes the way that they communicate with their
39:27
friends, families, and co -workers in the workplace.
39:31
They've mentioned that it makes them feel more
39:33
empathetic and patient. And for me, I felt that
39:40
I felt more confident when helping people around
39:43
me when they're struggling. And we see this from
39:46
our volunteers, too, when they tell it to their
39:48
friends as well. We also work to build a real
39:52
sense of belonging and camaraderie of those that
39:55
are volunteering with us at the crisis clinic.
39:57
Like you alluded to before, crisis phone light
40:00
work can be stressful, but our team shows up
40:03
to support each other. We make sure that our
40:06
volunteers never feel alone when they're on shift.
40:09
There's always a staff available to help debrief
40:11
after a difficult call or just to check in. We
40:15
also host volunteer socials, appreciation events,
40:18
and even parties. to celebrate major milestones
40:21
for those who've been volunteering for us for
40:23
quite some time. Ultimately, when you volunteer
40:26
with us, you become part of a community, and
40:28
that community is why people keep coming back
40:31
shift after shift. That sounds amazing. You know,
40:35
when I interviewed Peer Olympia, they also do,
40:40
like, self -care check -ins and parties and stuff
40:43
with their team of volunteers as well. So it's
40:47
good to hear that other organizations are doing
40:51
a similar thing. So, yeah, it's good to know.
40:54
Self -care is important. Absolutely. When you're
40:58
doing this kind of work, supporting others, you
41:00
really can't pour from an empty cup. And just
41:03
having that supportive community around who's
41:06
doing what you're doing and being able to support
41:09
and celebrate each other is it's a really powerful
41:12
thing. Yeah. And then how can people support
41:18
you? Yes. So beyond giving your time, I would
41:22
say. Donations are truly what keeps our lines
41:25
going 24 -7. And for us, that's incredibly important
41:29
because, like you had mentioned earlier, that
41:32
2 a .m. phone call is so critical and being able
41:36
to have someone there to answer that. And like
41:40
many nonprofits, we've been also impacted by
41:43
funding cuts and increasing competition for grants.
41:48
What this means is that now more than ever, we're
41:51
having to rely more on our community to support
41:54
us to make sure that we're still here 50 years
41:56
from now. So to give you an idea of what our
42:00
impact looks like, $50 could help cover the cost
42:03
of training a crisis advocate. $100 could provide
42:09
a suicide prevention training to a youth in our
42:12
community, a classroom of 30 youth. $500 covers
42:16
the cost of our phone lines for a month. Larger
42:20
gifts allow us to dream even bigger. One of our
42:26
priorities for us is to have text line services.
42:30
That is becoming the industry norm and for the
42:33
crisis. And we've also been hearing this from
42:35
our callers too, that they would love to be able
42:38
to get that text support. So that's a priority
42:41
for us going forward. But in order to have that,
42:44
That involves a complete restructure in terms
42:46
of how we answer our phones going forward. And
42:49
that, unfortunately, costs money. So we are incredibly
42:56
grateful for the members of our community who
42:58
do give to us. But especially now more than ever,
43:02
we do need that additional community support.
43:13
So you mentioned impact. Can you give us some
43:17
statistics around that? Yeah. So beyond just
43:23
our call volume and how we average about 10 ,000
43:27
callers a year, and just from what I mentioned
43:30
in 2024 regarding suicide de -escalations. When
43:34
we had our youth outreach program at full force,
43:38
we were impacting about 1 ,000 to 2 ,000 students
43:42
each year through our youth outreach suicide
43:45
prevention programs. And those directly relate
43:47
to being able to reduce and destigmatize mental
43:52
health and suicide within our local school districts.
43:56
Wow, that's pretty impressive. And so y 'all
44:08
have probably received grants in the past. And
44:12
so that's a large portion. That's like your foundational
44:16
support. But are you not receiving grants that
44:23
you used to? Is there a change? What we're seeing
44:28
a lot in this space right now is a lot of funders.
44:33
now are starting to re -evaluate who and what
44:39
they fund. Because, for example, one foundation
44:42
that funds multiple nonprofits in our community
44:45
is re -evaluating to see how they could better
44:49
support nonprofits that are, say, primarily federally
44:53
funded. But now that that funding has disappeared.
44:56
Okay. So there's a big reallocation going on
44:59
with everybody right now. Yes. Yeah. Okay. That
45:03
makes sense. Yeah. And so how can people put
45:08
in those donations? How can people do it? Yeah.
45:11
So you can go to our website, crisisclinic .org
45:14
slash donate, and that's the easiest way for
45:17
us. If you're more tech savvy, you can always
45:21
text crisis to 26989, and that will take you
45:25
directly to our website as well. Okay. And if
45:28
you can't afford to give financially, that's
45:31
okay. Even sharing our number with someone who
45:34
might need it or displaying our outreach materials
45:37
in your business or agency would be a huge help.
45:40
We already partner with multiple therapists in
45:42
the community that will hand out our number to
45:45
their clients. That's something we've done for
45:50
many years now. And if you are a therapist or
45:53
behavioral health professional and you're listening
45:55
to this and you would like some outreach materials,
45:57
you can always reach out to us at info at crisis
46:01
-clinic .org. And we are happy to mail those
46:05
over to you. Awesome. Thank you. How is the crisis
46:17
clinic planning to grow and adapt to meet the
46:20
community's needs in the future? Yes. So the
46:24
crisis clinic is at a really pivotal point right
46:27
now. We've been serving the community for more
46:29
than 50 years. And while that history is important
46:33
to us, what really energizes me and... My team
46:36
is looking forward to what the next 50 years
46:39
could look like. And one of the biggest things
46:41
we're focused on right now is building our capacity.
46:44
We want to make sure that when someone reaches
46:47
out, no matter what time of day, no matter what
46:50
medium, there's always someone ready to support
46:53
them. So what that means for us right now is
46:56
recruiting and training more volunteers to make
46:59
sure that they have the support they need to
47:01
survive and thrive in this work. And beyond this,
47:05
the need for our volunteers is so great because
47:07
the way people are asking for help is changing.
47:11
That's why one of the things we're really excited
47:13
about launching in the future is text and chat
47:16
services. This has been a huge priority for us
47:19
in the last couple years, and that's just from
47:23
what we've heard from our callers, especially
47:26
youth, that it feels safer to type out what they're
47:29
feeling rather than saying it out loud over the
47:31
phone. Being able to meet people where they are
47:35
on a platform that feels most comfortable to
47:37
them is going to ultimately be a game changer
47:40
for how we serve our community going forward.
47:43
We're looking to lay down that groundwork with
47:46
our staffing now so that once we receive the
47:48
funding, we can roll this out in a way that's
47:50
sustainable, seamless, and is responsive for
47:54
what our community needs. And ultimately, part
47:57
of this work to is to position the crisis clinic
48:01
to be part of the 988 system. You're familiar
48:06
with 988, I assume? A little bit. Remind us what
48:10
that is for some people might not know. Yes.
48:13
So about five or so years ago, 988 was rolled
48:18
out. The intention is that it would be very similar
48:22
to 911, but for mental health crises. Okay. You
48:28
can get access to a crisis advocate or a phone
48:32
line, someone on the phone lines to be able to
48:35
answer you directly and is regionally based.
48:38
Right now in our state, there are three entities
48:42
that are answering calls throughout the entire
48:46
state. That is going to be Crisis Connections
48:49
that serves King County, Volunteers of America
48:52
that serves the eastern half of our state. And
48:56
at this moment, I'm blanking on who's on the
48:59
western half of our state. But they had done
49:02
that as an initial rollout. But now that they've
49:05
had the systems, they've worked out the kinks,
49:08
they're starting to look for more regional hubs
49:10
so that, like, you can always dial our regular
49:15
phone line number, 360 -586 -2800. But in the
49:20
future, we're hoping that by... adopting some
49:24
of our practices to meet the standards that are
49:27
needed for the 988 to be a 988 crisis hub. When
49:31
you dial 988 or text 988 in our community, you
49:35
would then reach us. And that is a multi -layered
49:39
process that requires us to change our trainings,
49:43
requires us to have more people on staff, and
49:47
that's something we're beginning to slowly ramp
49:49
up towards. And we have some other ways that
49:52
we're looking to expand as well. Beyond the phone
49:56
lines, we're working hard to be present and visible
49:59
everywhere in the community. We don't want people
50:02
to only learn about us when they're in crisis.
50:05
We want them to know that we're here long before
50:07
they ever need us. So you'll see us at resource
50:11
fairs and local events. We were actually recently
50:14
at Oli Porch Fest that happened earlier on this
50:17
month, and that was just so wonderful to be there
50:20
and introduce, and in some cases, reintroduce
50:23
our services to so many people. Wow, that sounds
50:27
really cool. You were talking about when the
50:31
988 number became a thing. I wonder if that was...
50:37
tied to uh when back when we were having the
50:42
pandemic and the black lives matter and everyone
50:45
was like defund the police um if that had anything
50:48
to do with that when they were trying to okay
50:51
let's we don't want to defund the police but
50:54
we want to change how that looks and maybe we
50:56
want to equip police officers with social services
51:00
to come out kind of thing was it maybe did it
51:03
have something to do with that i'm curious No.
51:07
So 988, how they operate is they're multifaceted,
51:15
right? So there's another organization in the
51:17
community, Olympic Health and Recovery Services.
51:20
They have the people who will go out into the
51:23
community instead of or with police. That is
51:27
in high -risk scenarios, and they are completely
51:32
separate. are part of the mental health ecosystem.
51:38
What we're looking to do is to be the phone line
51:43
people that are on the phones. We're not equipped
51:48
to be the people who go out into the community.
51:51
That is not where we're looking to grow as an
51:56
organization. Where we're looking to grow is
51:58
to have that visibility and ease of access. or
52:05
988 is a much easier number to memorize and know
52:10
to our number. Yeah, definitely. So it's really
52:13
just being able to access. This is our current
52:17
operations, and if we were to become part of
52:21
a 988 crisis hub, it would be the same deal.
52:25
Sending people out, that is always our last resort.
52:30
Right. was talking about before with regards
52:34
to mandated reporting we want the caller to be
52:37
in control yes definitely um so to be a 988 crisis
52:45
hub part of that is having a accreditation from
52:49
the international council hotlines or the american
52:52
the american association of suicidology so in
52:58
order to be a 988 Crisis Hub, you need to have
53:01
credentials or you need to have accreditation
53:05
from the International Council of Hotlines or
53:09
from the American Association of Suicidology.
53:15
So they have set out standards for what needs
53:19
to be included in training, how to respond to
53:22
crisis, as well as some quality assurance metrics
53:26
that the crisis clinic has. to meet in order
53:29
to have those accreditations. Now, from what
53:33
we've seen is our existing training program is
53:36
already very close to what is required to be
53:42
accredited, how we manage suicide and train our
53:47
volunteers to do question, persuade, refer in
53:51
terms of suicide prevention. We're already there.
53:58
In terms of where our curriculum is at, there's
54:01
just some tweaks and measurements. And to be
54:04
accredited, that's a multiple month and oftentimes
54:07
multiple year process. Does that kind of answer
54:11
the question? Oh, yeah, definitely. That's really
54:14
good to know. Thank you for clarifying that.
54:16
Yeah. And then is there anything else you would
54:27
like to share? I would say that if there's one
54:30
thing I hope people can take away from our conversation
54:32
today is that no one should ever have to face
54:36
crisis alone, whether you're just calling for
54:39
yourself or someone that you care about. When
54:42
you call the crisis clinic, there is always a
54:44
trained crisis advocate ready to pick up the
54:46
phone, to listen without judgment, and to help
54:49
you find your path forward for your crisis. We've
54:52
been in the community for over 50 years, and
54:55
we're committed to being here for another 50.
54:57
But this isn't something that we can do alone.
55:00
So if you believe in building a community where
55:03
everyone has someone to turn to in their hardest
55:06
moments, we'd love for you to get involved. volunteer
55:10
with us make a gift or even just share a number
55:12
with someone who might need it and just ultimately
55:16
thank you to everyone who listens to this podcast
55:19
and being well informed about what's happening
55:22
to our non -profits in the community because
55:24
we need more people who are aware of what's going
55:27
on because it directly supports the resilience
55:30
that we have in this community when more people
55:33
are aware of what's going on and what resources
55:36
are available so we can better support each other.
55:40
Definitely. Thank you so much, Holly. Of course.
55:50
It was wonderful to speak with Holly and learn
55:53
more about this great resource in our community.
55:56
If you are needing someone to talk to, you can
55:59
call their crisis line at 360 -586 -2800 or send
56:06
a text to 26989. For volunteering or anything
56:12
else, call their office at 360 -586 -2888 or
56:19
email them at info at crisis -clinic .org You
56:25
can also visit their website at crisis -clinic
56:30
.org That's it for today's resource report produced
56:41
by Pathways to Agency. At Pathways to Agency,
56:44
we are driven by the belief that everyone should
56:47
have the tools and support to achieve their goals
56:50
and thrive in their communities. Our mission
56:53
is to bridge the gaps in understanding, accessibility,
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and trust by connecting individuals to resources
57:00
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lead to personal and community growth. Resource
57:07
Report offers information about existing and
57:10
emerging nonprofits and resource organizations.
57:14
Find out more at pathwaystoagency .org. From
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57:25
And check out our YouTube channel. Chaos Radio
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57:35
by Resource Report. Till next time, and thanks
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