One in four people across the globe will struggle with mental illness at some point in their lives. Nearly two-thirds will never seek help from a health professional. Suicide claims nearly 50,000 lives in the U.S. alone every year—more than twice the toll of homicide. In the past two decades, suicide rates have increased by nearly 30 percent across all demographics. Young adults have seen an increase of major depression by 47 percent since 2013.
Crisis Text Line saw the need to create rapid-response crisis counseling by leveraging big data and the dominant communication medium of today—text messaging. Crisis Text Line reaches underserved demographics; it skews young, rural, and low-income. People in crisis text 741741 and a trained Crisis Counselor responds within minutes, 24/7, to help assess risk, deescalate the situation, and craft a plan for continued safety.
Crisis Text Line supports people in imminent danger and uses its real-time data to continuously improve their intervention services. Crisis Text Line hosts the largest public dataset on mental health. In addition, they share aggregated and anonymized data via CrisisTrends.org with the goal of strengthening the broader mental health system. Partners—ranging from police departments to state departments of health, and community colleges to the Boys and Girls Club of America—use this data to improve essential services and shape policy. Crisis Text Line’s innovation makes crisis counseling more accessible and efficient while working to catalyze an effective, cohesive mental health support system.
Two thirds of people struggling with mental illness never seek professional help.
Crisis Text Line is rapid-response counseling that reaches underserved demographics.
Crisis Text Line shares aggregated and anonymized data via CrisisTrends.org to strengthen the broader mental health system.
Mental health policies are informed by an accurate, timely understanding of mental health illness realities, particularly of underserved populations. Mental health providers have the evidence necessary to design and deliver prevention, diagnostic and treatment services when, where and how people need them.
Implementation partners improve their programs and inform their strategy with Crisis Text Line’s data. Partnerships with government, law enforcement, civic and educational institutions employ the data to improve the broader mental health system.
Dena Trujillo, CEO of Crisis Text Line, has spent over 20 years operating at the intersection of nonprofit and for-profit, discovering and amplifying models that scale innovative solutions and maximize social impact. Prior to Crisis Text Line, Dena was a Venture Partner at Omidyar Network, where she spent 17 years driving philanthropic initiatives around the world. Crisis Text Line provides free, 24/7, high-quality text-based mental health support and crisis intervention by empowering a community of trained volunteers to support people in their moments of need. Guided by empathy and innovation, Crisis Text Line endeavors to build an empathetic world where nobody feels alone.
We are delighted to announce the five winners of the 2019 Skoll Awards for Social Entrepreneurship, one week before we head into the 16th Annual Skoll World Forum: Crisis Text Line, Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator, mPedigree, mPharma, and Thorn. …
