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2019 Annual Report

2019 annual report

a little connection
goes a long way

Allie Franklin

Allie Franklin,

Executive Director

Dear Friends of Crisis Connections,

I hope this finds you well. As I write this, our community is facing the unprecedented crisis of a worldwide pandemic.  It has rocked the very foundations of all of our lives.  This year, more than ever, we have become sensitized to the need for connected, even as many shelter in place and are physically isolated from one another.  As I reflect on the changes our organization adapted to in 2019, it occurs to me that we were, unknowingly, preparing to be ready to respond to a crisis.  We simply did not know that one would come so soon and have such a huge impact on us all.

Read Full Letter
Dear Friends of Crisis Connections, I hope this finds you well. As I write this, our community is facing the unprecedented crisis of a worldwide pandemic. It has rocked the very foundations of all of our lives. This year, more than ever, we have become sensitized to the need for connectedness, even as many shelter in place and are physically isolated from one another. As I reflect on the changes our organization adapted to in 2019, it occurs to me that we were, unknowingly, preparing to be ready to respond to a crisis. We simply did not know that one would come so soon and have such a huge impact on us all. Improving the Standard of Care: In 2019, our behavioral health community leaned into the integration of physical and behavioral health. This brought new collaborations and new opportunities to support community members with a wider array of supports. Crisis Connections had to evolve our model of care to meet new standards for call answer times. This improved our quality by ensuring that all callers to the crisis line were welcomed with a live answer within 30 seconds. 211 also transformed its model and I am proud to share with you that 211 dramatically reduced our wait times for basic need supports. This, along with a comprehensive publicity plan, has increased the number of people who reach out to 211 to find needed resources to prevent crises in their lives. As a result, in 2019, our 211 and Crisis Lines helped 200% more community members than 5 years ago. Upgrading our Technology to expand our reach: In response to community needs and with the help of our incredible donors and grant supporters, we added text to three of our lines: Teen Link, 211 and the WA Recovery Help Line. To prepare for an upcoming move to new sites in 2020, we upgraded our phone system to allow us to operate our call center from any site, including remotely. This ended up preparing us to be able to respond nimbly to the COVID-19 Stay-at-Home Order by giving us the ability to have some team members work remotely. Our new electronic health record systems on the Crisis Line, 211 and WA Recovery Help line make it easier to connect callers to needed community supports and to track the impact of each of the lines on preventing crisis. The WA Recovery Help Line’s database also powers the search engine of the Statewide Medications for Opiate Use Disorder (MOUD) Locator. This database that was launched in April of 2019 gives community members real time information about how and where to access these lifesaving medications in their own communities. Better Care through Partnerships and Connections: Through a partnership with the Seattle Fire Department Mobile Integrated Health Care team and the South Precinct Police Department, we launched the OneCall program to help connect first responders to resources for people they serve in the community to help them find safe alternatives to jail and emergency room admissions. In September, a wonderful friend of the Warm Line sponsored the addition of the Veteran’s Warm line. Now veterans can request to speak with a veteran and be connected to someone who has military experience as well as lived behavioral health experience. Throughout 2019, we built and nurtured key collaborations with Healthier Here, WA Serves, Within Reach, WellSpring and San Diego 211 to continue our work on building a Community Information Exchange in our community. This work has the potential to reduce the complexity of social service networks and make accessing basic needs resources much easier for all members of our community. Friends, we simply could not have served so many people in need in 2019 without your support. The need continues and has grown. We are so grateful for your support in our continued evolution of this work. This was a pivotal year in the lifecycle of our organization. We were tested in our ability to rise to the challenges of evolving the way we worked to meet the needs of our community. There are some crisis lines who did not survive the changing landscape. Because we were able to adapt and respond to the new requirements, we have the opportunity to not only continue to serve our community but to be a part of helping to shape the future. We hope to lead the way with innovative new approaches to supporting a world that suddenly needs new ways to stay emotionally connected even while staying physically apart. Thank you for your continued support, for your friendship and your investment in the safety net of our community. Your support enabled us to expand our reach, not only in numbers of people served, but in new ways that helped our community stay connected to care. Stay well my friends.
revenue: $
%
contributions
%
other
%
united way
%
program services fees
%
government
expenses: $
%
fundraising
%
admin
%
program
times people connected to crisis connections
Happy millennial african american woman holding smartphone using ecommerce apps, playing mobile games, chatting in messengers or social media networks, surfing internet or texting message on phone
times crisis connections helped prevent crises with prevention and postvention services
times crisis connections helped intervene during a crisis
crisis connections heart icon

Crisis Connections offers support, resources, and training before, during, and after a crisis occurs. We couldn't have done this without all of your support.

prevention services

calls for basic needs

calls for support or resources for a substance use challenge

calls for support or resources for an emotional or mental health challenge

youth contacted us for support or resources

111.4%

increase in visitors to the WA Recovery Help Line site since the launch of the moud (medications for opioid use disorder) locator.

Visit WA Recovery Help Line

top met needs

24%

community needs

5%

emergency shelter

15%

government

5%

transitional housing

11%

rent cost assistance

5%

utilities

10%

legal needs

4%

food

7%

housing

3%

personal items

youth suicide prevention curriculum: riding the waves, look listen link, H.E.L.P.

152 facilitator guides sold

  • riding the waves
  • look listen link
  • h.e.l.p.
private trainings
public trainings

adults were trained in suicide prevention, de-escalation, accessing community resources, and mental health first aid.

middle school and high school students were trained on suicide prevention and Teen Link

intervention services

calls for crisis intervention
%
people experiencing suicidal thoughts
%
people who needed emotional support
%
people who needed help problem-solving
%
people who needed emotional support

crisis connections accepted a contract to serve as the 24-hour crisis line for eight new counties starting in 2020 serving the following counties:

  • king
  • pierce
  • clark
  • skamania
  • kilickitat
  • chelan
  • douglas
  • grant
  • okanogan
counties served

postvention services

cc cares box
CC Cares packages given in 2019
grief companions
supported
survivors of suicide

"I am exceedingly grateful for your support, caring and unique understanding. I highly recommend Crisis Connections and have learned first-hand how valuable your program is because of its specific assistance to survivors of suicide. Thank you for making a genuine difference in my recovery!"

- Survivor of Suicide Loss

“My grief companion was wonderful and very patient with me allowing me to say anything about my feelings I was experiencing each time she called me. It was very helpful on my personal journey.” 

- Survivor of Suicide Loss

”I'm definitely happy to have this opportunity to share what is a personal tragic experience for the good of helping others and I truly do owe that thanks to you.” 

- Grief companion

survivor after suicide drop-in groups
attendees of survivor after suicide drop-in groups
attendees on international support after suicide day

volunteer services

active volunteers

140: 24-hour crisis line volunteers
74: teen link volunteers
29: wa warm line volunteers
26: cc cares volunteers

30,750.55 volunteer hours

with special thanks

special thanks to our event sponsors

presenting sponsor

diamond delight defenders

presenting media sponsors

diamond delight defenders

platinum pun pledgers

gold giggle getters

The Cronin Family

silver smile supporters

• Genoa Healthcare • Molina Healthcare of Washington

bronze belly-laugh bringers

• Arctic Printing • Community Health Plan of Washington • Kaiser Permanente • Seattle Bank

thank you to our supporters

2020 executive leadership

Allie Franklin

allie franklin,

ceo / executive director

cheryl cooper,

chief financial officer

avelino estrada,

senior director of business operations

annette lawson,

senior director of human resources

lauren rigert,

senior director of development & community relations / interim king county 2-1-1 director

2020 board of trustees

mike nielsen,

president

ursula whiteside, ph.d.

vice president

pam mandel,

treasurer

clif curry

ann bodden

jean ciesynski

angela cronin

david dickinson

kim gunning

zandy harlin

marlene price