Samaritans, Inc.

Program: 24-Hour Befriending & Samariteen Helplines

Program Description:

The 24-Hour Befriending Service is staffed by trained volunteers that provide unconditional support to individuals at-risk for suicide. Whatever the challenge or struggle, anyone who is suffering can find at Samaritans a caring, empathetic ear, eager to listen and understand. The Samariteens Service is dedicated to assisting teens in despair. This peer-to-peer support hotline is free, confidential and staffed by teenagers who are trained to be compassionate, supportive listeners. Each year, volunteers receive more than 130,000-150,000 calls -  15,000 of them on the Samariteen line.

Program Long-Term Success:

Our helpline services are devoted to reducing the incidence of suicide by alleviating despair, isolation and suicidal feelings among individuals in our community through a non-judgmental process known as befriending. 

Program Short-Term Success:

Demand for suicide prevention services has increased as a result of the current economic climate and increased publicity on this important public health issue. Over the past 5 years we have expanded the number of people we serve by more than 10% each year. The resources required to support this service expansion have also required an average of 10% growth each year.

Program Success Monitored by:

Since 2006, with new phone technology, we have been able to track demand on our helpline service and now know that for every call our volunteers answer, an additional one to two calls goes unanswered. Our goal, to serve more people in need, has driven our efforts to garner resources for the recruitment, training and retention of volunteers, as well as to convene discussions with other Massachusetts Samaritans branches.

Program Success Examples:

During 2009, when the level of calls answered grew by 24% it was a result of stepping up our recruitment activity through tripling the number of websites listing our volunteer needs; doubling the number of training sessions for new volunteers and doubling the number of staff and corps members who assisted in coordinating shifts and providing face to face support while volunteers where on the phones. Because the overall demand also grew, this 24% increased meant that the gap was closed by 6%. To be successful in closing the gap further, we need to continue the increased level of recruitment and training; however, we also need to target more prospective volunteers who can work the overnight or early overnight hours – the time period in which the greatest number of missed calls occurs.

Program: Grief Support Services

Program Description:

When someone is lost to suicide, the effect can be devastating to families and communities. Samaritans’ Grief Support Services Program offers one-on-one and group support to individuals and families who may be struggling with the loss of a loved on to suicide. We also offer consultation, information and support services to communities, including schools, where a loss has occurred. SafePlace has been one of our services since 1986. It is an open support group for individuals who have lost someone to suicide. Our goal to serve more people in need has led us to open a total of six SafePlace locations, and to the creation of the Survivor to Survivor Network, a group of trained volunteers who help others who have recently lost someone to suicide. In addition, we have recently begun collaboration with Comfort Zone Camp to offer an annual day camp for children who have lost a parent or sibling to suicide.

Program Long-Term Success:

People who are bereaved by suicide are an underserved population. Suicide survivors typically experience feelings of sadness, anger, or guilt about the death. Studies have shown that suicide survivors’ mental and physical health suffers in the wake of a loved-one’s suicide, and that they feel guiltier and more stigmatized than survivors of other kinds of death, yet they receive less support. A study by Baily, Kral & Dunham (1999) found that suicide survivors, compared to mourners of accidental, expected and unexpected natural modes of death, had heightened feelings of responsibility and rejection. They also experienced more difficulty making sense of the death and greater overall grief reactions. The goal of our program - to support the survivors of suicide - is woven into the fabric of our general suicide prevention mission.

Program Short-Term Success:

Samaritans’ Grief Support Services reached nearly 1,000 survivors last year through SafePlace, an open support group which meets in six locations twice a month, and the Survivor-to-Survivor Network, a group of screened and trained survivors who reach out to provide one-on-one support to those who have recently lost a loved one to suicide. This year Grief Support Services also is offering Postvention Services, support and consultation to schools, organizations, and community groups in the wake of recent suicides. Samaritans has worked with teachers, parents and students in the wake of teen suicides over the past several years. In the process, we have developed training for teachers and youth professionals in responding to suicide. This postvention program incorporates a combination of crisis curricula and Samaritans’ befriending techniques.

Program Success Monitored by:

Samaritans' Grief Support Services Program has a clinical supervisor, Dr. Jack Jordan, who meets regularly with the program's director and Samaritans' Board Program Team to monitor program progress toward goals.

Program Success Examples:

"After my daughter’s death, I found a suicide note ripped up in the trash and we pieced it back together, and it said, “I have no hope. No one can save me.” My daughter died from depression. It was a disease that we just weren’t able to help her overcome. I try to think that way all the time. That is the only way I can live with it. When my daughter passed away, I was in such excruciating pain, I didn’t know where to turn. All I know is that I made that phone call to Samaritans and after that phone call, I was able to breathe again. I was able to leave the gravesite and go home to my family in one piece. I bring her one red rose now to her gravesite for Valentine’s Day. That helps me to survive. If we can just stop one family from suffering like this, it is all worth it. That’s what we do at Samaritans, is save people every day."  - Valerie, SafePlace participant

Program: Community Education and Outreach

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