At just after 10:00 PM on Saturday evening, we departed from Gilford, New Hampshire, ending a four-day vacation at Soulfest, New England’s version of the large outdoor Christian rock music festival. We arrived home in Marlborough, Massachusetts at midnight. Two hours later, we went to bed with most of our belongings laundered and repacked for a longer trip to begin a few hours later. We arose to a rainy day on Sunday. With clearer heads, we reorganized and drove to Simsbury, Connecticut, where Debbie’s sister Barb served as our taxi driver to the airport. Thanks, Barb, for the lift and the free parking. We boarded a plane to Baltimore and, after a delay, proceeded to Nashville, where the hot and humid air reminded us we were no longer in New England. We then rented a Toyota Yaris, dropped our luggage off at an extended stay hotel in Franklin, and grabbed a quick bite to eat at Subway. A 20-minute ride south on I-65 to Spring Hill took us to the ministry’s headquarters just after 10:00 PM (11:00 PM Eastern Time!).
Our schedule had us working the hopeline as hope coaches for the evening. Hope coaches are trained individuals, often volunteers, who receive phone calls or instant messenger chats from youths seeking help. Dave Anderson and Terri Henry, the Spring Hill Call Center Manager, welcomed us. After spending a few minutes getting better acquainted, Terri assigned each of us to an experienced hope coach to refresh our training. Debbie has been a hope coach since 2009, but has not serviced calls for some time and none under the new phone system. I have not previously been a hope coach, but have recently completed the application process and received some training. We were impressed with how the hope coaches handled both the callers and the software that documents the process.
After a few calls, we both went to work. Debbie began to take calls and I took chats. By 3:30 A.M. Central Time, Debbie had fielded eight calls and I had taken three chats. Debbie’s calls included a girl who thought an 18-year-old male friend had been kidnapped. A heartbroken teen who was endlessly fighting with her mother called. A mature 20-year-old male called concerned about his older girlfriend. My first chat was with a 17-year-old girl whose boyfriend was whipping her around emotionally. My last chat was even a sadder case of an 18-year-old girl who had been sexually molested by her father, abandoned by both her father and the boyfriend who fathered her infant daughter, and had contracted a sexually transmitted disease that would prevent her from bearing children in the future.
The objectives of the hope coach at thehopeline.com are to listen, encourage, apply scripture, and pray for young people who are seeking help. Equally as important is to connect them with more specialized services from other agencies, so-called partners of the ministry, to address the specific problems of the youth in more depth. The Rescue Support System (RSS) software guides the coach through the call, not only providing prompts, tips, and information on partners for specific issues, but also documenting the call to strengthen accountability to applicable agencies.
A late night ride back to the Homestead Suites landed us in bed, a welcome sight for sore eyes!
Our schedule had us working the hopeline as hope coaches for the evening. Hope coaches are trained individuals, often volunteers, who receive phone calls or instant messenger chats from youths seeking help. Dave Anderson and Terri Henry, the Spring Hill Call Center Manager, welcomed us. After spending a few minutes getting better acquainted, Terri assigned each of us to an experienced hope coach to refresh our training. Debbie has been a hope coach since 2009, but has not serviced calls for some time and none under the new phone system. I have not previously been a hope coach, but have recently completed the application process and received some training. We were impressed with how the hope coaches handled both the callers and the software that documents the process.
After a few calls, we both went to work. Debbie began to take calls and I took chats. By 3:30 A.M. Central Time, Debbie had fielded eight calls and I had taken three chats. Debbie’s calls included a girl who thought an 18-year-old male friend had been kidnapped. A heartbroken teen who was endlessly fighting with her mother called. A mature 20-year-old male called concerned about his older girlfriend. My first chat was with a 17-year-old girl whose boyfriend was whipping her around emotionally. My last chat was even a sadder case of an 18-year-old girl who had been sexually molested by her father, abandoned by both her father and the boyfriend who fathered her infant daughter, and had contracted a sexually transmitted disease that would prevent her from bearing children in the future.
The objectives of the hope coach at thehopeline.com are to listen, encourage, apply scripture, and pray for young people who are seeking help. Equally as important is to connect them with more specialized services from other agencies, so-called partners of the ministry, to address the specific problems of the youth in more depth. The Rescue Support System (RSS) software guides the coach through the call, not only providing prompts, tips, and information on partners for specific issues, but also documenting the call to strengthen accountability to applicable agencies.
A late night ride back to the Homestead Suites landed us in bed, a welcome sight for sore eyes!
No comments:
Post a Comment