Ever since Jake died by suicide, I've often wondered what could have made a difference. About a year ago I stumbled upon the Crisis Text Line. It is a free service offering help to people in crisis through texting. Wow, If Jake new about this option maybe he would have reached out for help.
I decided to volunteer as a crisis counselor. After 34 hours of online training I was good to go and began helping people. It’s amazing how many people are hurting and suicidal, I wish I knew then what I know now. Basically, people text on their phones to 741741. This connects to me on my computer, a secure environment within the crisis text line platform. I take 1 or 2 or even 3 conversations at a time and honestly, for most it makes a difference. Consider volunteering yourself, click the link and become part of those doing this in Jake’s memory. Eileen started a few months ago and so far we have helped almost 400 kids/teens/young adults/and even people our age through Crisis. It's stressful sometimes, always important, and seems for now like the best way possible to honor Jake’s memory.
Copyright 2015 Remembering Jake Mayes. All rights reserved.