Voices From The Line - April 2026 - Week 2

Sometimes our caller’s needs are so complex that it is hard to know where to start. We know that if we give them too many resources at one time, they could become overwhelmed and not follow through with contacting each agency and just give up.  In cases like this, we spend time talking with the caller to address the most urgent issues, then encourage them to call back when they are ready to move forward with more resources or ask permission to call them in a few days’ time to offer further assistance. 

Here is a recent case that fits this description: our caller’s partner was recently incarcerated causing them to no longer able to afford their rent leading to eviction.  They were staying with a friend temporarily, but that situation is no longer working so they need to find other accommodations for them and their pet.

Over the course of the conversation, the caller revealed that they are also grieving their son who was murdered, and while they have a therapist that they have been seeing to help process their grief, when their partner was incarcerated, they lost their transportation source as they are disabled and can’t drive themselves.

In some cases, with so many critical needs, it is hard to know where to start.  On this call, our agent was able to connect them with low-income housing options (they receive a disability check) and with 988, a crisis line so that they will have someone to talk to until they can get back to their therapist.  The caller gave us permission to follow up with them, so we will call them back in a few days to see if they were able to contact the resources and what the outcome was, and to talk further to discover any other ways that we can help.  If needed, we will advocate on behalf of the caller with the resources, but our first choice is to empower them to advocate for themselves.  We are hopeful for this caller that their situation will soon be stabilized and they can focus on healing.