Mission
Everyone has moments when the support and understanding of others seem hard to find, and it is for such moments that Response of Suffolk County, Inc. was born. Through our crisis intervention hotline, professionally trained and supervised counselors offer callers telephone support and help them to explore options for next steps that they might take for finding additional assistance or comfort. In providing this level of caring, our ultimate goal is to reduce the risk of impulsive behavior that could lead to self-injury, suicide, or harm to others.

Agency's Roots
In the early 1970s, following a college student's near suicide, members of the community came together and considered what options this student and others feeling alone might have for finding help. It was clear that a crisis hotline with local referral information was needed, and it needed to be open day and night. They gathered professional staff and volunteers, and created a training program for them. From these humble roots, the agency grew to serve all of Suffolk County and is now a nationally accredited program.

Services

Crisis Intervention Hotline
Who Calls Us
Callers phone us for many reasons, but most feel overwhelmed by a loss of some kind, such as the loss of a loved one, a job, one's health, or one's sense of hope. Sometimes they're worried about a family member's emotional or physical health and are seeking resources for them. Sometimes they're struggling with a recent change, such as a re-location, a new baby, a divorce, a frightening diagnosis, and are feeling alone.

In 2006, our hotline counselors responded to over 11,000 calls. More than 2,000 calls related to significant health problems. In nearly 1,000 calls, substance abuse was an ongoing struggle, and many people spoke of mixed feelings in seeking treatment. Over 1,000 calls related to suicide, and nearly 200 were about the suicidal thoughts of a loved one or colleague. This is in addition to the hundreds of calls about domestic violence, relationship issues, and the need for concrete services such as food stamps and emergency housing.

Hear2Help Online Crisis Counseling
Would you rather "chat" than talk? Many people going through a difficult time feel more comfortable "speaking" online than over the phone. That's why Hear2Help is here.

During after-school hours - Monday thru Friday from 3 pm to 9 pm - you can speak with a crisis counselor online. Our counselors are not therapists, but they are professionally trained and supervised, and will talk with you about any concern you have - peer pressure, relationship difficulties, bullying, thoughts of suicide, feelings of isolation, physical or sexual abuse, substance-related problems to name just a few.

Response's hotline receives thousands of calls from Suffolk County each year. People reach out to us when they are:

Trying to gain some perspective on a difficult situation

Feeling alone, trapped, or discouraged

Having concerns about a friend or relative who seems depressed

Scheduled to begin therapy or are in therapy but need to talk to someone now

Wanting help with an immediate personal crisis

Looking for referrals to support groups or other community resources

Hear2Help is a new service that will make our program even more accessible to people in need of a caring "voice." Should you need to talk at a time when Hear2Help is not available, please consider calling our hotline at (631) 751-7500. All calls are confidential, free, and anonymous.

Support Line
For a number of callers who are homebound or have limited social supports due to mental illness or physical disability, occasional calls to the crisis hotline are not sufficient. Such hotline callers are candidates for our support line, which makes telephone "visits" once or twice a week, depending on the callers' needs and the availability of counselors. These "visits" are not a substitute for therapy or any other kind of treatment, but they give callers an opportunity to talk about their day, their plans, their struggles and hopes. Many of our support line callers have also found additional supports, such as peer groups and therapeutic programs, through their discussions with us.

Community Education
School Presentations
To introduce teens and young adults to the hotline and online crisis counseling services, our educators give presentations in the middle schools, high schools, and colleges throughout Suffolk County. By giving a voice - and a face - to the counselors at Response, the educators make our program more approachable. And, upon request, they also teach a variety of topics, such as "Healthy Communication Skills," "When a Friend Needs Your Help," "Listening to the Music Behind the Words," and "Suicide Prevention." To schedule a presentation, call (631) 751-7500, or email us at info@responsehotline.org.

Professional Training
The crisis intervention and active listening skills used on the hotline have many applications, including police work, family mediation, peer counseling, parenting, grief counseling, and hospital work. In fact, it is hard to think of a context when these skills are not critically important. That's why Response educators are called upon to give professional trainings to so many agencies and programs, including the Suffolk County Police Academy, Stony Brook University, Suffolk County Community College, Skills Unlimited, Foster Grandparents, Federation of Organizations, Clubhouse of Suffolk, and Victim Information Bureau (VIBS), among many others. To schedule a presentation, call (631) 751-7500, or email us at info@responsehotline.org.

Privacy Statement
The only information that Response of Suffolk County obtains about individual visitors to our website is that which is supplied voluntarily by the visitor through a query or volunteer application. This information is not shared with anyone outside of Response of Suffolk County, Inc.. In addition, we do not send visitors unsolicited emails, nor do we ever conduct telephone solicitations.

Executive Director
Meryl Cassidy

Board of Directors
Deborah McDonald, Chair
Martin Woodle, Vice Chair
Rita Barnhart, Secretary
Beth Sperber, Treasurer
Jayne Devereau
Joseph Dunlop
John Paul Hankins
Arlene Stevens
David Warren
Linda Kirk
Juliana Taglich
Urszula Zalewski

Honorary Board Members
Maureen Bybee
Kathleen Lobben

Funding
Response of Sufolk County, Inc. receives funding from the Suffolk County Department of Health Services/Division of Community Mental Hygiene, the Suffolk County Youth Bureau, the New York State Ofice of Children and Family Services, the Brookhaven Youth Bureau, as well as corporate and private donations