Beginning in November, Clark County teenagers will have a new mental health outlet.
The Hopeline, which debuts Nov. 1, is a faith-based 24/7 suicide prevention hotline that was started by Mike Miller, Dr. Ray Brady, Dr. Mark Pelletier, Taylor Peters, Jamie Kingsbury, Rob Lloyd and Rhea Brightmon. The group of seven serves as the Hopeline’s advisory committee, and combines backgrounds in working with youth through churches, call centers and other community engagement areas. The Hopeline number is 360-768-3322.
Work on the Hopeline started in the summer of 2017 and has involved putting together a phone system, answering system and recruiting and training volunteers on how to handle calls from suicidal teenagers. The Hopeline has 28 advocates who will answer calls. The next step is to build to 60 advocates.
“The advocates know we are here to listen and provide hope,” Brady said. “We’re not going to preach. We’re not going to moralize. We’re not going to pray with them unless they want us to. We’re not going to spout Scripture. We’re not using this as an evangelistic tool. We’re using it as a tool for hope.”
Calls will be directed to the advocates’ personal phones, since there won’t be a physical call center. Advocates will be placed into teams and work in either two six-hour shifts per month, or one 12-hour shift per month. For example, with the 28 advocates now, that would mean four teams of seven. Each team would work a week per month, with each advocate taking their own shifts over that week, and working under a supervisor and clinical director.
Advocates will have a binder with a flow chart and resources to assist them as they work through the calls. Miller said they expect calls to center on depression, sexual assault, bullying, domestic abuse, pregnancy and homelessness. The calls can be anonymous, but if an advocate determines the teen is possibly suicidal, they will ask for contact information.
The Hopeline technology allows for advocates to patch in other people, such as supervisors, on the calls. The phone system supports having as many as four lines in on a call at once. If there’s an imminent threat to a caller’s life, Miller said the supervisor would be patched in, and would likely reach out to emergency services.
The Hopeline is about understanding teenagers and giving them an outlet they might not otherwise have. Reaching out to your parents can be difficult at that age, and many times friends aren’t able to help with larger issues.
“Generally if you go to a friend and tell them a problem, they don’t have the tools to help you,” Miller said.
There are other plans to help Clark County youth as well. Miller said there’s work being done on creating six youth centers in the area — three for middle school and three for high school. The idea is to give young people drug- and alcohol-free places to hang out.
“If we have one (suicide), it’s one too many,” Miller said. “Here in Clark County we’ve had way too many suicides. We’ve got to be proactive, we’ve got to reach out to them and tell them they matter.”
