This week is Volunteer Appreciation Week, and I am honored to be here with all Crisis Text Line’s volunteers, working to help support people in crisis in the US and beyond. When I came on as CEO of Crisis Text Line, I knew I wanted to be part of an organization that had a direct positive impact on people’s lives. Every day, I am seeing strangers helping strangers during their time of need. I am truly moved by our volunteer’s unwavering commitment to helping others find their strength.

Not just this week, but every day, I want to extend a heartfelt thank you to all our volunteer Crisis Counselors for their dedication. It is their empathy and compassion that fuels this work and makes our volunteer community truly powerful. 

If you’re anything like me, I am motivated by tangible impact. Last year, we engaged in more than 1.3 million conversations, and in the process, exchanged nearly 40 million messages with people who reached out to us in need. Our volunteers should truly feel a sense of pride. We would not be Crisis Text Line – without our volunteers. They are our heroes–saving and changing lives everyday. 

I am honored to invite one of our amazing volunteers to share her experience as a Crisis Counselor. Brenda Ferber is an inspiration to families struggling with mental illness. An award-winning children’s book author, she is a mother to three grown children. Brenda and her daughter Faith (a former Crisis Text Line volunteer and now a Licensed Social Worker and Therapist) started a TikTok channel called Stigma Smashers. Together, they talk openly and empathically about mental illness and the challenges parents face when raising kids with mental illness. Thank you Brenda for showing such empathy to the people we support.  

If you are looking to make a difference in people’s lives, please join our amazing network of volunteers. Thank you to all our volunteers for making sure that people never have to be alone.