Let me see if I can present my new volunteer Jam briefly. God knows, any of you who've read my posts, know first hand I can drone on and on. Broken old man on a park bench talking to pigeons.
My volunteer world has become the biggest part of my day. I guess the biggest part of my life but my life is basically one day at a time so day it is. My volunteering is expanding as learn more about our mental health crisis and those struggling with all of its emotional insults and pain. I've posted my volunteer efforts here, here, and here. My largest and most time consuming volunteering (aka work for free) has been as a volunteer crisis counselor. The year plus I've spent doing crisis counseling has been rewarding and I hope effective. Yet, my attention span of a gnat is forcing me to look beyond putting out fires as best as I can and looking to find work I can do that has a longer more durable effect for those struggling.
I'm singularly focused on the grief community, deaths of despair in the elderly, teens, and suicide prevention. I am looking to engage with organizations focused on those areas such as Active Minds, NAMI-NYC, American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, and In God's Love We Deliver. There is a new organization that has really struck a resonate chord in me. An organization that's focused on teens and is build around "support to bridge the gap of emotional wellbeing and academic success". Less crisis intervention and more connection, support, and a place for teens to feel connected.
It is SchoolPulse. Here are a cut to chase YouTube video's here, here, and here. From my perspective as a volunteer using texting as the connection to teens I see SchoolPulse differently from crisis intervention. Those differences speak to a nagging question I've had doing crisis interventions where the goal, the critical goal is to help those in crisis find a place where they're not in the middle of an abject struggle with depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation, relationships, etc. Crisis intervention is rewarding, hard, fast paced, emotionally difficult, and doable. Yet coming from the world of medical education and clinical trials I tend to lean into long-term outcomes that are durable, meaning someone is supported over time with purpose and meaning. Crisis intervention saves lives and nothing is more important. SchoolPulse can save lives and help support lives over time.
Texting conversation with teens on SchoolPulse are not one off 45 minute connect and support. SchoolPulse conversations are over time and not solely focused on crisis moments. They are prompted by three times a week texts of either shout outs, questions, Podcasts of import to teens, and my fav their playlists. SchoolPulse is a part of the iGen (phone generation) teens life. They can engage as much or as little as they want. SchoolPulse is there.
From the Web Site
"...we created a solution to provide you with the most effective, whole-school, Tier-One solution, while also guaranteeing the most impactful Tier-Three interventions.
Our text-message approach provides students with the anonymity, confidentiality, convenience, and privacy that results in honest interactions and leads to effective prevention"
There is so much more they offer not just teens but schools, teachers, guidance counselors, principles, parents, and school systems. For me and you know this blog is about me. There is a joy in knowing that me as volunteer with SchoolPulse I can be part of a teens life in a productive positive effective way. I can offer props when a teen has done something amazing for her mom or they joined a club and succeed. Or even got into college. Share my joy for them with their joy. I know if they are in crisis I can do that too. And trust me I have many times. The continuum from crisis to amazing is lovely when supporting a teen. Each discreet touch point on that continuum does so much for a teen over time.