Nancy Lublin is the CEO of Crisis Text Line, a nonprofit that offers crisis counseling by text message. Since the group was founded in 2013, its highly trained volunteer counselors have exchanged more than 150 million messages with people in distress. The volunteers and half of the organization’s staff have always worked remotely. The other half are in New York City, the epicenter of the Covid-19 outbreak in the United States.
We were aware “virus” was being mentioned in a significant way in February. We had tip sheets for our crisis counselors in case people were mentioning things like “virus” or “coronavirus.” We saw anxiety on the rise in February. I don’t even think it was called Covid yet. We knew that this was coming.
This is why it’s really smart for organizations to have board members who are subject-matter experts, not just rich people. We have a couple of people on our board who also wrote to me and said, “Take this seriously. It’s going to be huge, and there’s going to be an important role for Crisis Text Line to play.”
Grant Making in the Coronavirus Era
A series of dispatches on grant making in the coronavirus era by Lisa Pilar Cowan, vice president of the Robert Sterling Clark Foundation.
There are so many not-for-profits who just think of their board as an A.T.M. I’m so grateful that I have board members who are there for subject-matter expertise.
Long Reach of the Crisis
We’ve seen a more than 40 percent increase in volume — people in pain reaching out for help. We’re busy.
Mental health is part of this crisis. I think people recognize that, even after the virus is gone, the mental-health crisis is going to continue because there’s going to be grief and PTSD and depression and financial ruin and some of the other things that will be the echo of the virus itself. That’s going to last even longer.
I am worried about the marginalized people. For the people who were in child-abuse situations before, this has made it a lot harder because their safety net at school is no longer there. For the people who were food insecure before, this is much harder now. I’m worried about those people.
But suicidal ideation is down. There’ve been some journalists who’ve written about individual incidents that were terrible, making it seem like there’s an acute suicide problem right now. On average, 28 percent of our conversations include suicidal ideation. Now, it’s down to 23 percent. Shifting down five points is pretty significant.
Active rescues are when we cannot de-escalate, and we need to call 911 because someone is at imminent risk of harm to themselves or someone else. That number has flattened or gone down.
‘Built for Moments Like This’
We’ve always had our crisis counselors work remotely from home. We’ve been saying this has always been a pants-optional form of volunteering. One of the points of light in this dark time is seeing how volunteers are showing up in record numbers. We’ve had 8,177 people in just the last 28 days take at least one conversation on our platform. Thousands and thousands of people who are probably feeling anxious, depressed, and isolated themselves want to give to other people.
Our key performance indicators every day are setting records. The wait time is better than ever. Right now, we’re handling 91 percent of all conversations in under five minutes. For high-risk conversations, that’s more like 97 percent.
We survey texters afterward. We give them an optional survey to fill out. Right now, we have a 90 percent satisfaction rating. Think about it, that’s from people who are very unhappy. They’re reaching out to a hotline because they’re in pain. Normally it’s about an 85 percent satisfaction rating. We’re up four points during Covid. We’re outperforming. I’m so proud of this team. But maybe even more proud of these volunteers.
I don’t wanna jinx it, but the technology is stable, and we can handle a lot more. We were always built for moments like this. I credit some of our staff and our board members who come from start-ups. We regularly ask ourselves, “What would happen if we had 10x the volume in this system? Can it handle it?”
The Inspiration of Volunteers
Normally about 10 percent of applications to be volunteers are from people who identify as Asian. This is a really hard time. They’ve been bullied and harassed. Right now, 24 percent of all of our applicants to be crisis counselors identify as Asian. There is a community that’s in pain, and yet they’re turning it into, “How can I help other people?” That is just so inspiring.
Right now, 19 percent of the people applying to be crisis counselors identify that they’re in the health-care industry. This is what I think people underestimate about humans. When things get dark for humans, there are humans out there who dig deep and they find strength in moments like this.
If you’re somebody who wants to help, but you know that physical distance and sheltering at home is the right thing right now, this is a great way to help.
Leading in a Time of Loss
I think the hardest moment of my career was when I was at DoSomething, and we lost a beloved team member who was 26 to cancer. That was really hard. Not-for-profits are filled with hopeful, passionate, and — many of them — young people. They’re not used to mortality. That was a very, very hard moment to lead through.
This is also hard. People are dying. We’ve had one staff member lose a father. We’ve had another lose a cousin. We’ve had another lose an aunt and that aunt’s two children. There is loss, and we are supporting them. We’re sending food. We’re sending flowers. We’re giving them as much space as they need.
What’s hard about loss right now is that you can’t be with someone as they’re dying, and you can’t go through the rituals afterward of being together for funerals or sitting shiva or whatever your traditions are. It’s a particularly isolated time to experience loss. We’re really trying to hold our team members close from afar, if that makes sense.
‘On a Scale of 1 to 5’
Now is the time to remember that your employees are humans first and employees second. They may be sick, have family members who are sick. They may have children at home who aren’t in school. If you can, do things in Slack or in Google Docs instead of in meetings. Five-year-old twins — you can’t plan when they’re going to nap. It’s hard to do meetings, so be mindful of that, and be flexible.
Every day at noon we have an all-team meditation. It’s just 15 minutes. You can have your camera on or off. It’s optional. There’s a core of six to 10 people who really are doing it every day. It’s just 15 minutes of quiet-level setting together, and you feel a little bit less alone.
I’m doing OK. For a lot of entrepreneurs, disruption is actually where we’re most comfortable. But I’m asking myself every day how I’m doing. The way that I’m asking myself and other people is, “How are you doing on a scale of 1 to 5?” Because when you say, “How are you doing?” people will say, “I’m OK,” or “I’m fine.” But when you say, “How are you doing on a scale of 1 to 5?” some of them will say 4 or 5. But you’ll get a couple of 2s. And it’s good to know who is a 2. That’s important.
Poker as Stress Relief
Maybe the Girl Scouts are actually secretly behind this whole pandemic. My family has been through 20 boxes of Thin Mints since the start of Covid. A supply that usually lasts us all year is now almost gone. We don’t eat Thin Mints by the cookie now; we eat them by the sleeve.
I’ve taught my teenagers how to play poker. We’ve had some late-night family poker games, and I’ve been ruthless. I’ve been check raising my teenagers. It’s a ruthless way to play poker. It’s what you do if you really want to win. When you put your 12-year-old all in, it’s a bit ruthless.
