Message From Assistant Director Zena Andreani

Crisis Center Assistant Director Zena Andreani

After much discussion amongst the Crisis Center Leadership team, we regret to inform you that the Summer 2022 Volunteer Training has been cancelled.  

This was an especially difficult decision to make, and we especially apologize to those of you who have expressed interest in volunteering for our Center and have already extended your start date due to our previous cancellations due to the pandemic.  

As some of you may know, our Crisis Center is part of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. As part of the Lifeline network, we respond to all incoming crisis calls for the 650 area code.  In July of 2022, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (operated by Vibrant Inc.) will transition away from use of their historic 800-273-8255 number and will instead use 3-digit number 988. The purpose of this shift is to increase accessibility of crisis intervention and suicide prevention lines for individuals. To read more about how 988 came to be, click here:

This direct three-digit line transition is a nation-wide project that will take some years to implement. Though there is a significant amount of support and financial backing for this life-saving service, the preparation for it has been a long and complex process.  

Over the past year, members of our Crisis Center leadership team have participated in a state-wide collaborative to advocate and address the needs of each crisis center who will be responding to these 988 calls.  This Center, alongside 13 other centers in the state participating in this project, have worked hard to advocate for the unique needs of their center and to communicate their support.  

Because of this, we made the difficult decision of focusing all our time and attention on preparing our team for an expected 30% increase in call volume following the implementation of 988.  Furthermore, we now have the task of hiring many additional employees, as well as building capacity for telephone response and chat/text services for adults. This is a very exciting time for the Crisis Center and our crisis prevention partners. 

Our volunteer program is a special treasure to us, and we are fully committed to making sure it’s a sustainable project that will continue to have a home here at the Crisis Center.  In the next few months, and as we prepare for the launch of this 3-digit number, we plan to revisit the foundation of our volunteer program and will be bringing on additional staff to support its growth, including a volunteer specialist who will be overseeing our remarkable volunteers. We will announce next steps once this foundation is built. We thank you for your patience during this transitional period and really hope you will consider volunteering at a future date. 
 
For questions, comments or concerns, please reach out via email.
 
Thank you all for your understanding and support of our growth. We hope to see you all in a volunteer training cohort soon! 

Zena Andreani 

Assistant Director, Crisis Intervention and Suicide Prevention Center 

Registered Associate Marriage and Family Therapist #111220