Headquarters Counseling Center is a National Suicide Prevention Lifeline crisis center, which helps thousands of people in the Kansas area.
According to Headquarters, based in Lawrence, Kansas, every 19 hours someone in the Sunflower State loses his or her life to suicide.
At Headquarters, employees and dozens of volunteers take about 20,000 calls a year from people who may be feeling suicidal.
But due to lack of funding, the center may have to close its doors.
“One of the things that crisis centers do across the nation is help divert people from the emergency rooms because they're not making attempts, they don't end up in the hospital. And we also refer them to local counseling services so that they can get treatment,” Headquarters Executive Director Andy Brown said. “Many of those people are in a state of crisis where they are feeling suicidal and they need someone to talk to and listen and to hear what they have to say.”
Katie Shneider, who started volunteering a few months ago, is one of those volunteers who answer calls.
“It's really rewarding for me to be able to connect with someone in their time of crisis and really just let them know that someone does care,” Schneider said.
Now facing a financial state of emergency, this 24/7 suicide prevention hotline may have to close its doors by the end of 2016.
“That means those calls would be transferred to the backup network for the NSPL crisis line,” Brown said. “Which means that there'll be a decrease in how rapidly the calls are answered and also how many of those calls get answered and also how often those calls are answered.”
Brown says it’s due to a cash flow shortage, as most of the center is funded by individual contributions and grants.
The center is trying to raise $90,000 by December 5. Right now, only $43,000 has been raised.
Brown says if the money isn’t raised by the deadline, Headquarters could close its doors by December 31.
For more information on #SaveHQ, click here.
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Rae Daniel can be reached at Rae.Daniel@KSHB.com.
