neighbors
Help is aText Away
Jill Smolowe volunteers to save lives on the Crisis Text Line WRITTENBYCINDY SCHWEICH HANDLER
The messages tothe national hotline are distressing, and constant:“ I just can’ t go on.”“ I don’ t understand why I’ m here.”“ My boyfriend left me and Idon’ tknow what to do.”
Four hours per week, Montclair resident Jill Smolowe responds tothese calls for help, listening and empathizing until the person incrisis is calm and has aplan for feeling better. With ayear’ s experience behind her, she sometimes handles more than one conversation at once. And she does it all from her living room— via texting.
Smolowe, awriter and grief and divorce coach, was looking for asatisfying volunteer experience when she learned of the Crisis Text Line, anonprofit launched in 2013 that operates 24 / 7for people in crisis.” Users of the service text HOME to 741741 from anywhere in the country, and are connected to trained volunteers committed to“ bringing them from ahot place to a calm cool place,” says Smolowe.
The concept struck her as awonderful idea. Asthe mom of amillen- nial daughter, she knew that trying to communicate with young people via text— roughly 75percent of the site’ s users are younger than 25— can be more effective than talking over the phone.“ There’ sanadded layer ofprivacy, because with aphone line, your voice isthere,” she says.
Statistics back up her enthusiasm for the site’ s possibilities: As of October, Crisis Text Line had exchanged roughly 49 million
Text HOME to 741741 from anywhere in the US, anytime, about any type of crisis.
HowItWorks
Alive, trained Crisis Counselor receives the text and responds quickly.
The volunteer Crisis Counselor will help you move from a hot moment to acool moment. messages. Usage increased sharply after Facebook began sending information about the site to users who talked about harming themselves.
Currently, 3,500 active crisis counselors have stepped up to meet the demand. Volunteers undergo arigorous process before being approved;
SMOLOWE after applying online, they must pass acriminal background check and submit three personal recommendations from friends and colleagues. They then take 40 hours of remote online training, and need toscore well enough onan open-book test to pass the training. After that, they goonto the hotline’ s computer platform to observe live texting sessions. Once they’ ve been cleared tobecounselors, they commit to scheduling four hours’ worth of shifts per week for a year.
A typical conversation, says Smolowe, begins when counselors log on to the program, notify their supervisors that they are there, and hit the Help Another Texter button. At the left side of the screen, crisis counselors are available in chat rooms to share referrals, sites with further information on specific topics such as eating disorders, and other insights. The sophisticated software ensures that volunteers never feel alone or adrift.
They are trained to understand that they’ re not there to save the texters or cure them of their disorders, she says.“ We validate their feelings, and help them express what they’ re experiencing at the moment. We’ re there to get them out of crisis mode, and point them to resources that can further help them.” Counselors steer texters to collaborate over plans, so that when they hang up, they’ re on their way to taking positive action.
Despite the sometimes upsetting nature of the dialogues, Smolowe says that she finds it“ very gratifying that I’ ve spent a block of time helping people who are truly in need. You know from the tenor of the conversation when you’ ve helped.” ■
For more information about how to volunteer, go to crisistextline. org.
SMOLOWE: COURTESY OFESME; GRAPHICS: COURTESY OFCRISISTEXTLINE. ORG
22 HOLIDAY 2017 MONTCLAIR MAGAZINE