As 988 is officially rolling out in New York State and across the country, I wanted to highlight how the model for 988 came from the Mental Health Association movement in NYC. At the time MHA-NYC collaborated with SAMSHA in development of the Suicide Prevention Lifeline.While the name of the organization has changed from MHA-NYC to Vibrant Emotional Health, the vision of the lifeline has not wavered in helping to respond to thousands of individuals in desperate need for help and support. The framework for 988 was based on their successful model.
Kudos to Giselle Stolper, former director of the what was then the MHA-NYC, whose vision helped create the program and Kim Williams, the current director of Vibrant Emotional Health for her leadership in helping to continue this vision as we transition to 988.
There is a Yiddish word called kvelling which essentially means extremely proud. When an idea such as this one comes from the MHA movement, I am kvelling for all those countless individuals that have changed lives because of the suicide prevention lifeline and all those lives that will be made better by 988.
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www.mhanys.org
Glenn Liebman
CEO, MHANYS
194 Washington Avenue, Suite 415
Albany, N.Y. 12210
