Samaritans, Inc.

Samaritans’ mission is to prevent suicide and offer hope and support to those affected.

Our services emphasize confidential, nonjudgmental, and compassionate listening. Our goals include:
988: Be a statewide leader in suicide prevention through the 988 rolls out in MA and ensure the continuance and impact of our Helpline in reducing the incidence of suicide
Enhanced youth suicide prevention services, including youth-led text and peer support, training and education
Pilot projects to meet the needs of those at highest risk of suicide following psychiatric hospitalization and survivors of suicide attempt
Serve high risk populations and historically marginalized communities, including BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ by improving accessibility, impact, and effectiveness of our programs
Local Outreach to Suicide Survivors (LOSS Team) partner with police departments to support families immediately following a suicide loss
Advocacy agenda to influence policy changes and positive mental health

We achieve our mission through the following services:
1) 24/7 Crisis Services: Training and mentoring volunteers (adults and youth) to provide compassionate, confidential listening on our phone and text Helpline to those who are isolated, despairing, and suicidal. In 2022 we are promoting new translation services, providing access to more than 240 languages on the Helpline and adding a dedicated teen text line - Hey Sam.
2) Community Education and Outreach (CEO); Through trainings and workshops in the community, we equip others with skills and knowledge they need to identify and help people at risk of suicide. Since the pandemic restrictions on in-person meetings, we have successfully shifted the workshops to a virtual format. In 2022, we will explore adding in-person workshops back into the schedule and expanding our reach for virtual trainings.
3) Grief Support Services (GSS): GSS provides support to loss survivors through SafePlace peer support groups and through the Survivor-to- Survivor Network for individual visits. Normally held twice a month in 6 different locations, we are now offering online groups three times per week.

Samaritans is led by a 19-member Board of Directors, nearly half are suicide loss survivors, who give generously of their time, talent, and treasure. 100% of board members made a personal unrestricted gift within the last year.

Additionally, we have stable leadership and program staff, which underscores the organization's ability to implement and meet its goals of reducing and preventing suicide.

Provide a list/description of the organization's major achievements.
Established in 1974 as the first independent Samaritans’ branch in the U.S., Samaritans signature practice of befriending has had a tremendous impact on lessening suicide in MA for close to 45 years. Those who call or text our Toll-Free Helpline encounter a caring listener, ready with a compassionate ear to anyone with suicidal ideation or intent to self-injure. Our education efforts to build awareness of suicide risk, through tailored community workshops, along with peer support for those dealing with a suicide loss, fulfill important niches in preventing deaths from suicide or healing from its aftermath. Samaritans’ reach is statewide in MA, with highest concentration of service delivery in Greater Boston and MetroWest. Samaritans answers calls from any MA area codes that go to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (NSPL).

Samaritans evolved from one small Helpline to having answered over 2.6 million calls, chats and text messages. In 2020 we added translation services to the Helpline to provide access to speakers of over 240 languages. In 2022 we are adding a new teen text line called 'Hey Sam'. We have trained more than 5,250 volunteers in befriending skills; provided suicide prevention workshops to 135,000 individuals; and lent aid and support to 13,000 individuals who have lost a loved one to suicide.

During this time, Samaritans has grown from a basement office in Boston’s Arlington Street Church to our current office in Downtown Boston. During COVID, we moved all services to a virtual model, which has continued to inform programming and allow for greater access. In an effort to reach more individuals, we have added to the Helpline texting that has grown tremendously in popularity and led to the formation of Hey Sam - a new text line specific for teens. Samaritans is the only MA-based organization to implement texting for those seeking help for issues related to suicide.

Longer-term, our (2021) published 5-year visioning plan will lead us towards progress in several key areas: 1. Be a statewide leader in suicide prevention as the 988 rolls out; 2. Enhance youth suicide prevention services, including youth-led text and peer support, training and education; 3. Pilot projects to meet the needs of those at highest risk of suicide following psychiatric hospitalization and survivors of suicide attempt; 4. Serve high risk populations and historically marginalized communities, including BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ by improving accessibility, impact, and effectiveness of our programs; 5. Establish Local Outreach to Suicide Survivors (LOSS Team) partnering with police departments to support families immediately following a suicide loss; and 6. Develop an advocacy agenda to influence policy changes and positive mental health