DV and SA in August

Although I've mentioned my role in the development department a few times on here related to our upcoming event, I sometimes also fail to mention that I also work half-time on the crisis line. I've been on our crisis line for about a year and a half as a staff person, and a little over two years from when I started as a volunteer.

Since I've been with PWCL the calls have increased dramatically - both in number and in severity. In August every year, our crisis line sees a sharp increase in calls. Today, in 6 hours, we took about 100 calls on the line. That was all before noon.

On the bright side, maybe we're getting so many calls because more people know about us. On the dark side, maybe the failing economy and lack of area resources have made it that much more urgent for survivors to reach out to us. Either way, we're taking a lot of calls, and a lot of those are really scary.

This is one of the busiest and most difficult times of year for our work, so I write this tonight to ask that you keep our hard working advocates on your mind while you play in the summer weather. I hope you'll also join all of us as we take a few hours to honor and celebrate the work we do on September 12th at Safety In Numbers 2008 at the Crystal Ballroom. Come up and say hello to our lovely staff advocates, especially those who work long hard hours answering call after call on the hotline or responding to hot calls at the hospital. They may be a little shy, but they'll appreciate it. I promise.