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Donations needed to offset funding cuts
YOUNGSTOWN
Help Hotline Crisis Center is often the place of last resort for lonely seniors looking for someone to listen, the homeless, the poor, the out-of-work, the out-of-hope, the suicidal.
“They call us when they have nowhere else to turn,” said Duane Piccirilli, Help Hotline executive director.
And they call in droves.
In its 42 years of existence, Help Hotline, which is the 24-hour crisis intervention agency for Mahoning and Columbiana counties and provides the after-hours hotline for the Mahoning, Columbiana, Trumbull and Ashtabula counties mental health agencies, has fielded nearly 3 million calls.
Now, as traditional resources shrink and the need for Help Hotline services increase, the agency itself is seeking financial help from the community to keep its programs going.
For the most part, Help Hotline has been supported almost entirely by the Mahoning County Mental Health Board, Trumbull County Mental Health and Recovery Board, Columbiana County Mental Health and Recovery Services Board, the United Way, and county, state and federal funding.
It also has received grants from area foundations and trusts as well as donations from the general public, Piccirilli said.
But, as traditional funding became more uncertain, in 2012 Help Hotline was forced to augment its traditional funding sources and launched its first financial campaign.
The situation has not improved, and with continuing budget cuts to primary funding sources, Help Hotline is again mounting a campaign asking for donations from businesses, families and individuals. The goal of the 2013 campaign is $25,000, Piccirilli said.
Laura Lyden, a member of the Mahoning County Mental Health Board, and William Farragher, a Help Hotline Advisory Board member, are co-chairmen of the May campaign.
“I encourage anyone who is able to donate to the campaign. It helps fill in the gaps where funding cuts are happening,” she said.
Anyone who wishes to donate to the Help Hotline Annual Campaign may do so by going to the agency website at www.helphotline.org. Gifts of $100 or more can be made payable to the Youngstown Foundation, 20 W. Federal St., Youngstown, OH 44501 (place Help Hotline in the memo line). Any gift made through the Youngstown Foundation will be increased 5 percent by the foundation. For information, call Todd Marian at 330-747-5111.
When an agency can’t provide services, it refers the caller to Help Hotline which answers phones 24/7.
The telephone crisis center has 40 paid employees, including trained crisis workers certified by the Ohio Department of Mental Health, supplemented by 24 volunteers, who have gone through screening and training.
In addition, Help Hotline has licensed counselors and social workers on staff and employs a number of people who are mental health consumers in recovery for its Homeless Outreach Program, Drop-in Center and Warm Line, which involves peer-to-peer conversations, Piccirilli said.
In 2012, Help Hotline answered nearly 200,000 phone calls or about 16,000 per month, and after 5:30 p.m. answers calls from five states. In addition to the phone service, the agency offers 14 other services.
“It is our job to help them pay their utility bills or find a place to stay for the night ... to try and figure out how they can get through the day,” he said.