Last month, I spoke with Rita Kestenbaum and Cheryl Schiffman, two Long Island moms whose daughters were murdered 3 years ago by a troubled young man with a gun.  Along with their families, Rita and Cheryl have started foundations in their daughters’ honors to help young people build self-esteem, avoid violence and get help through their crises.  Both The Carol Kestenbaum and the Nicole Schiffman Foundations have done so much over the past three years, turning their unthinkable tragedies into something more positive.

During my meeting with Rita, she talked about how both foundations work very closely with the Long Island Crisis Center (LICC), funding a program where volunteers go into Nassau County high schools and talk about suicide prevention.  When she asked what I knew about the LICC, I was embarrassed to admit that I actually had never heard of them.  I soon called Linda Leonard, the Executive Director for the LICC, and was invited down to their office for a tour and to learn more about what they do.

Founded in 1971, the Long Island Crisis Center is here to help with any problem, any time, any one.  Callers to the crisis center will never have their phone call answered by voice mail  – there are trained volunteers answering phones 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.  After all, crises occur at any time.  Volunteers receive over 250 hours of intense training and mentoring and volunteer a minimum of 6 hours per week.  When someone calls any of the hotlines, a knowledgeable counselor will answer specific questions, make referrals to appropriate programs or agencies or just be there to listen.  Something that is very important to note – the LICC phone lines do not have Caller ID, which enables every single incoming call to remain 100% anonymous.

In addition to the telephone hotlines, anyone in crisis can get counseling by walking into the LICC or from a live counselor online.  All in all, I was shocked to learn about all of the different topics that the LICC covers.  From depression and suicide prevention, eating disorders and substance abuse to bereavement to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues, they really do cover it all.

Children Of Hope In partnership with AMT Children of Hope Foundation, the LICC will respond to calls from young women in need of assistance with a pregnancy or who wish to give up their newborn infants to a safe haven as provided for under New York State Law.

Pride for Youth offers support and advocates for 13 to 20 year old lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) youth and all of the issues that they and their families face.  This program provides LGBT youth with The Coffeehouse, a safe, friendly, drug and alcohol-free place to socialize.  Open on Friday evenings from 730 to 1130pm, this is somewhere that LGBT youth and their straight allies can come together to socialize and participate in fun, productive activities, with counselors available.  LGBT youth and their families can also receive free counseling for up to one year to deal with issues like health, coming out and HIV/AIDS prevention.

Workshops are available to the community and have been made possible through generous grants from The Nicole Schiffman and Carol Kestenbaum Foundations.  Free workshops for students and young people address suicide prevention for adolescents, anger management, self-injury, homophobia and runaway & abuse prevention, with additional workshops available for administration and youth workers dealing with working with lesbian and gay youth, making schools safer for LGBT teens, depression and suicide prevention.

The Street Outreach Program exists to help the many homeless teenagers living on the streets of Long Island.  Believe it or not, there are homeless teenagers living on our streets – this is not something that affects only inner-city teenagers.  The traveling minivan will seek out these youth to help keep them safe.  This team goes out 5 days/week to train stations, parks and street corners in some of the most at-risk areas of Nassau County looking for homeless teens.  They then provide one-on-one counseling, food, clothing and transportation to shelters (which is also something that is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year).  If a youth feels unsafe and has no place to go, they can call the crisis center and someone will come and pick them up and bring them someplace safe.

Suicide Prevention is a big goal for the Crisis Center.  In addition to the hotline where someone considering suicide can call in and get help, a suicide outreach program also exists where specially trained counselors will place calls to clients who have been assessed as being in danger of harming themselves.  If you have a friend that you think might be in trouble, the crisis center will call that person and tell them that someone is concerned about them.  Although it sounds like this program may not be accepted by the receiver of one of these calls, it is in fact a very successful program and has prevented a number of potential suicides.  Calls are welcomed most of the time.  In conjunction with this, Carol and Nicole’s foundations have funded a program called Look Closer Online, a program designed to reach troubled youth.  The website featured “webisodes”, short videos about the daily life and concerns of a diverse cast of teen characters.  The site addresses many of the concerns and problems teens face today and has information and links to mental health resources, including a link to LICC’s live, anonymous online counseling.

During my visit I learned so much about the LICC – mostly that they are an organization that does so many amazing things but as our economy has slipped over the past few years, so has the funding that they receive.  To learn more about the LICC, visit their website at www.LongIslandCrisisCenter.org or connect with them on Facebook.  LIParentSource.com featured both The Carol Kestenbaum and The Nicole Schiffman Foundations in our latest Non-Profit Spotlight, so you can click over there to read more about them.