Each month, an office in Rockville receives about 3,000 calls and another 1,000 text and chat messages from people in mental distress or a loved one trying to help.
The 988 call center, a crisis and suicide prevention hotline, features 65 trained people who sometimes merely chat with someone. Other times they strive to calm the person down. About 3% of the time, counselor calls for emergency help to stop someone from harming themselves.
The center’s staff answers calls from Montgomery County residents and also answers 988 calls nationwide.
Callers range from younger than 10 years to senior adults, although those in the 24 and under group tend to communicate through text and chat while older callers use their telephones.
“We want people to know we are here, not just when you are in crisis, but anytime,” explained Leah Schwartz, director of counseling services. The goal is just to help, to listen and not necessarily provide advice.
All information is confidential unless the person at the call center believes someone is in imminent danger.
U.S. Rep. David Trone toured the call center Tuesday and later held a roundtable discussion with U.S. Dept. of Labor Assistant Secretary Lisa Gomez on best ways to handle workplace recovery.
“So many people are hurting more mentally than they are physically,” but they don’t feel like they can talk about, Gomez said during the roundtable, which was held at Everymind in Twinbrook..
Also participating at the roundtable were Emily Keller, Special Secretary for Opioid Response, Maryland’s Office of Opioid Response, and more than a dozen people who work for the state or Montgomery County.
