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A calling for caring
At the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay, help is just a phone call away 24 hours a day, seven days a week. FOX 13 photojournalist Ryan French goes inside the call center to meet some of the call takers who lend their ears and compassion to those in need.
TAMPA, Fla. - While the Bay Area sleeps, the phones at the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay still ring. Behind the lines, intervention specialists are on the other end, ready to listen and guide people through their darkest hours.
The Tampa-based center takes calls related to suicidal thoughts, substance abuse, and physical abuse. The calls reflect struggles many Bay Area residents face.
What they're saying:
"A lot of it is like financial and worry about the future and some things that cause them to use substances," Intervention Specialist Alphonso Myrie said.
Myrie has been at the Crisis Center for two years, fielding some of the heaviest calls imaginable on the overnight shift.
"I normally take the high acuity lines, so that is the 988 lines, which is suicide prevention, and then the SAMHSA line, which is substance abuse and mental health," he explained.
Myrie leans on simple but powerful techniques to calm callers.
"At first, I use like breathing techniques to help them try to calm down if they're very emotional. I also use grounding techniques to help them center themselves and calm down. 'Cause a lot of times if they call and they're very emotional, they can't even really get everything that they're trying to say out."
Intervention Specialist Eric Clayton is also on the overnight shift.
"Sometimes I take crisis calls. It could be information and referral calls. It could be anywhere from someone needing a specific treatment facility," Clayton stated. "Or it could be something like, I need someone to talk to me for an hour as I'm driving right now."
Clayton says the nighttime calls often take on a different tone than the day shift.
"At night, you get the unique experience of people being exhausted. Sometimes they can't sleep and they just want to talk for 20 minutes, and all you have to do is just listen. Other times it's a lot more difficult," Clayton explained. "People are thinking a lot at this time of night and sometimes the thoughts are a lot heavier."
Dig deeper:
Active listening is at the core of what the intervention specialists do.
"Overall de-escalation, really the primary thing is just listening," Clayton said.
Compassion is also a key component of being a good intervention specialist.
"The very first thing, you have to be compassionate and want to help people. That's the most important thing. The rest of the stuff can be learned."
But the job isn’t easy. Myrie recalled one night when he answered the call from a veteran at his breaking point.
"He was losing his house," Myrie said. "He couldn't get a job and he just like, ‘I just don't know what to do.’ And I was able to talk to him, help him out with some resources… and I also connected him with our vet care line, which they were able to help him with the VA process."
Clayton has heard that shift in people’s voices too.
"Starting off, a lot of people will say defining statements like, ‘I'm going to end my life.’ And then as you keep listening to them… you start hearing that shift in language to ‘I want to get out of this in any way that I can.’ Then they start using past tense. Then you know they're probably going to be safe," Clayton stated.
READ: Lived trauma drives Crisis Center of Tampa Bay CEO's passion for helping other
For both, the work is heavy but rewarding.
"It feels like I was built for this. Almost like it fits like a glove," Clayton explained. "It's heavy material, but the fact that I can listen to all of it, go home and then be still excited to go to the next day and listen to more of it, it's very fulfilling."
The message from the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay is simple.
"Nobody should go through a crisis alone, and that's what we're here for," Myrie said.
What you can do:
If you need help, here are ways you can reach the Crisis Center.
- Community Resources & Support – 211
- Suicide & Crisis Line – 988
- Veteran Support – 1-844-MYFLVET
- First Responders – 1-866-4FL-HERO
- Substance Abuse – 1-800-662-HELP
- Sexual Assault – 1-888-956-7273
- Online – www.CrisisCenter.com
Tampa Bay 24-7 segments on Good Day Tampa Bay features overnight workers and their jobs. If you have an idea for a future segment, send us an email at GoodDayTampaBay@FOX.com.
The Source: This story was written by FOX 13's Ryan French.