Crisis Connection Hotline is closing

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http://ccibhp.com/service/crisis-care/

It is safe to say that most people have felt overwhelmed at some point in their life. This often leads, far to often, to dark thoughts of self-harm, relapsing back into addictions or addictive behaviors, aggravating an already-diagnosed mental illness, and suicide.

For the last 50 years, many Minnesotans have turned to the Crisis Connection Hotline for help in these situations; to talk to a counselor or other mental health professional and help avoid a drastic, dire, tragic outcome.

The hotline helps anywhere from 25,000 to 50,000 Minnesotans a year. The calls are routed from the National Suicide Prevention Line to Crisis Connection, where professionals help callers find a place of calm. Once callers are have reached a point of calm, they are then directed to available community programs and other resources for long term care.

It’s a great resource; something like a more personal 9-1-1. Something that has saved thousands of lives.

There was a foreshadowing of the hotline shuttering due to a lack of funding in this May 2017 article in the Star Tribune. In the article, the CEO of Canvas Health (the non-profit that runs the hotline) is quoted as saying, “We really need stable, continuous ongoing funding for this,” to avoid closing down.

Unfortunately that funding was never budgeted by the state, and the shutdown scenario came true. Crisis Connection will be no more starting Friday July 14th. Anyone that calls the hotline after this date will receive a voice recording tell you to leave a message.

If there is an emergency, a list of other resources can be found at this listing by the National Alliance on Mental Illness.

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