Learn about our crisis services

Now that you know how The Trevor Project got started, we’d like to give you more background about the programs and services your giving provides young people in crisis.

LGBTQ young people deserve dedicated care and when it comes to providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services for today’s generation, that care needs to be highly specialized. Thanks to your support and building on the experience we’ve gained for nearly two decades; our team continues innovating to expand Trevor’s capacity to respond to the 4x greater suicide risk facing our youth.

As you may recall from Part #1 of this email series, Trevor’s free and confidential core crisis programs include: The Trevor Lifeline, TrevorChat, and Trevor Text, in addition to a suite of education, outreach and advocacy resources. Every day, your giving allows young people in crisis to reach out to us, like Charlie,* a 15-year-old TrevorChat user who identifies as a trans man and asexual:

“Charlie” bravely reached out on TrevorChat because the school year was starting and he found out that his school would not allow him to dress in the way he felt comfortable.

Last year, donors like you helped us take nearly 150 calls, chats, and text messages each day from young people like Charlie. Learn more about our crisis programs and services below:

The Trevor Lifeline
The Trevor Lifeline is at the center of Trevor’s crisis intervention and suicide prevention services—with call centers in Los Angeles and New York and almost 200 active volunteers answering calls 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

The Trevor Lifeline is accredited by the American Association of Suicidology (AAS), which certifies that the Lifeline is performing according to nationally recognized standards. Trevor provides the only crisis and suicide prevention service delivery program specifically serving the LGBTQ community to be accredited by AAS.

Lifeline counselors receive over 50 hours of training to answer calls from LGBTQ young people who are feeling suicidal or need a safe, non-judgmental place to talk. If you live in NY or LA, you may be eligible to volunteer.

Find out how to apply to volunteer here.

TrevorChat
TrevorChat is an instant messaging program for youth who are in crisis and want to talk online with someone who understands their challenges. TrevorChat operates in the afternoon and evening, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

TrevorChat connects LGBTQ youth with trained counselors and provides access and anonymity to a population of young people who may feel more comfortable asking for help online, or who may not be able to access a safe phone line. This service meets a growing digital need. In its first year, 2011, TrevorChat received just over 2,500 messages, and last year it received over 10,000 messages. Meeting increased demand, TrevorChat continues to provide its service 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

TrevorText
In 2014, we piloted TrevorText, our proprietary text-messaging crisis program—with only one day of TrevorText service available each week. Since then, we’ve experienced growth at more than twice the growth rate on our other crisis programs.

In January 2017, donors like you helped raise funds to expand TrevorText to a third day of service each week. Our continued aim is to reach LGBTQ youth whenever they need support, wherever they may be, and in whatever ways they find most comfortable. TrevorText is available Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 3:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. ET / 12:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. PT.

The youth story in this email is representative of a TrevorChat crisis conversation. Names and identifiable details have been changed to protect confidentiality.

A preliminary release of data from a new report conducted by The University of Southern California (USC) and Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) reveals the crucial need for The Trevor Project’s services.   In a survey conducted among youth who contacted The Trevor Project, over half of youth with medium or high-level suicide risk de-escalate their risk level during their interaction with Trevor counselors.  However, during the time between The Trevor Project contact and survey completion (average duration: 12 days), practically all (96%) of youth with medium or high-level suicide risk reported a de-escalation.

Strikingly, 26% of youth report they would not have contacted another helpline if Trevor did not exist, meaning that thousands of youth who need support might receive no help at all if Trevor were not available. Nearly all said they would contact The Trevor Project again if they experienced another crisis.

When participants were asked to explain what was helpful about their contact with Trevor, some of the most common themes youth described were the importance of having a non-judgmental space and the validation and acceptance they received from their counselors.  On de-escalation, one youth explained, “I was able to calm down and think through my problems individually, and feel safer in my own skin for a while. I stopped and looked at my choices and was able to cross suicide off my list of answers.”  Another noted the importance of access to a safe space, saying, “I was able to be fully open with the counselor without worrying about being judged or punished, the way I might be if I shared those things with my parents, friends, or peers at school.”

This report has also given insights into the diversity of the LGBTQ youth served by The Trevor Project.  Thirty-six percent of our youth identify as trans*, gender non-conforming, or are unsure of their gender identity.  Thirty-nine percent of individuals in the preliminary study who used Trevor’s services are youth of color.  A significant proportion of our youth have also experienced homelessness, and are dealing with a variety of stressors in school and at home. The majority of respondents reported feeling like an outcast because they are LGBTQ, and most believe they will have a worse life because they are LGBTQ.

In the exit surveys, having access to a validating and accepting space appears to be vital in creating hope for the future.  One youth noted that while speaking with a counselor, “I felt heard and important. I realized not everyone in the world is hateful and narrow minded.”  Another said, “It helped me be able to know that other people are understanding of my issues, and that I am not alone even when I feel like I am.”  Even in the face of diverse identities and challenges, with the support and care of The Trevor Project, LGBTQ are finding hope, strength, and pride.

While these are preliminary findings, we are pleased to see that the young people spoken to so far have confirmed that The Trevor Project’s life-saving work is effective.  The study will be concluded in the Spring of 2017 and The Trevor Project will share our findings as we work to ensure the best LGBTQ suicide prevention program in the country.

As the new fiscal year begins this August 2016, we welcome two new board members to The Trevor Project.

Based in San Francisco, Mike Dillon is a partner with the global professional services firm Pricewaterhouse Coopers, serving as their Chief Diversity and Inclusion officer.  Now sitting on the San Francisco AIDS Foundation Board, Mike will continue to work with the Audit Committee of The Trevor Project as a Board member.

Raised in rural Missouri, Thomas Sanchez is now based in Washington DC.  Thomas is the founder and CEO of Social Driver, which was recently awarded by the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce for being the “supplier of the year,” helping businesses succeed using digital strategy, research & analytics, creative design, campaign execution, and technology. Thomas now serves on the Washington DC’s Mayor’s LGBTQ Advisory Board, and is seen as a leader on national tech policy issues and trends.

In celebration of the end of National Social Workers’ Month, we recognize four social workers on staff who help shape our crisis services and suicide prevention programs, as well as advocacy work.

David Bond, LCSW, B.C.E.T.S., and Vice President of Programs

What David W. Bond loves about social work is that he has played so many diverse roles in the field, from providing trauma therapy to over 800 children and families on a micro level, to shaping a health program for incarcerated youth on a mezzo level, and working on research at Trevor that could potentially change suicide prevention techniques on a national, macro level. “Social work allows us to blend direct practice with policy and research so that we can impact the psychosocial development of people in society as a whole,” David says.

Through a partnership with USC and Jeremy Goldbach, PhD, David is leading Trevor’s initiative of an immediate and long term evaluation of Trevor’s crisis services programs to help us grow and develop our impact. “Our research will help guide our peers in the mental health community about the best ways to serve LGBTQ youth,” David says.

Ashby Dodge, LCSW and Clinical Director

Ashby Dodge is a licensed clinical social worker, a wife, a mother, and a mentor – driven by the values of integrity and leadership.  With a private practice in NYC that focuses on couples/family therapy, young professionals, LGBTQ issues, sexual assault survivors, and substance abuse, Ashby’s clinical style is largely strengths-based, helping people find positive and practical solutions to any number of life stressors and problematic relationships. On March 18, 2016, she was awarded the Jabez Lamar Monroe Curry Humanitarian Alumni Award from her alma mater, Longwood University, for her commitment and selfless dedication to service, which has improved the welfare of the LGBTQ community.

“Social work has always been about connection for me.  Researcher and storyteller Brene Brown defines connection as ‘the energy that exists between people when they feel seen, heard, and valued; when they can give and receive without judgement; and when they derive sustenance and strength from the relationship.’ I never want someone to feel alone, that their life is not worth living; to feel that fear inside that they – this beautiful unique creation – are not enough,” she says. As Clinical Director at The Trevor Project, she leads our life-affirming crisis services team so we can continue to be that one supportive place to which young people can turn.

Taryn Crosby, LMSW and Crisis Services Manager

Crisis Services Manager Taryn Crosby is a sex educator, social worker, and fellow at the Kull Initiative for Psychotherapy, where she provides affordable and comprehensive therapy for individuals, groups, and couples. Her goal at Trevor is to develop the ways in which we serve marginalized groups, including immigrants, transgender youth, and people of color. “Social work helps me understand a whole person through the context of their families, communities, schools, religions, economic backgrounds, and races. Through our USC research project, we’re hoping to understand more about the people we’re serving in our crisis services programs so that we can provide them with the resources that will best suit their needs,” she says.

Amy Loudermilk, MSW and Associate Director of Government Affairs

Since 2015, Amy Loudermilk has been working with the Washington, DC City Council on the first bill in the nation that would require suicide prevention training in schools, specifically addressing the needs of LGBTQ youth. Now, the bill will be voted into law in March.

Amy has also been instrumental in banning the harmful practice of conversion therapy in several states across America. Her goal in 2016 is to help make sure that the Garrett Lee Smith Memorial Act is passed so that vital funding for suicide prevention and intervention services remains available across states, tribes, and schools. “More than 90 percent of those who die by suicide have a diagnosable mental disorder. Four out of five young people with a diagnosable mental health condition do not receive treatment. LGB youth are four times more likely and questioning youth are three times more likely to attempt suicide than their straight peers, while nearly half of transgender youth have seriously considered attempting suicide. We can do better for young people who should be receiving treatment, but are not being diagnosed, do not have access to mental health professionals, or who face stigma and shame that keep their mental health challenges from being addressed,” she says.

We thank the social workers on Trevor’s staff who are paving a brighter future for LGBTQ youth. With their dedication and unconditional support, we can continue to save young lives, 24/7.

With the high-stress crisis intervention and suicide prevention services we provide, compassion fatigue and burnout can be common among our staff and volunteers, so we try to remind one another of how important self-care is, whether that involves meditation, exercise, reading, getting out in nature, taking time off, eating well, getting good sleep, or connecting with friends. On September 3, to inspire our Trevor Lifeline, TrevorText, and TrevorChat volunteers and employees, we held a Self-Care Potluck.

We also celebrated the launch of a Self-Care Photo Scavenger Hunt for volunteers, which took place on their private Facebook groups. Volunteers were invited to take photos of themselves practicing self-care, and if they did any five out of a list of ten activities, they were entered to win a ticket to see the “It Gets Better” concert presented by The Gay Men’s Chorus of L.A. on October 10. Check out the winning photo here.

We will continue our self-care practices throughout the year, and if you have any self-care practices you’d like to share with us, please Tweet or Instagram us at @trevorproject with hashtag #LGBTQselfcare. Let’s inspire our community members to nurture their mental health and well-being.