Agency Information

The Northwest Arkansas Crisis Intervention Center is located in Springdale, Arkansas and was incorporated in 1985 as a locally-based non-profit service agency. The Crisis Center provides an immediate and confidential 24-hour telephone support service free of charge to Northwest Arkansans living in Benton, Washington, Madison, Carroll, Crawford and Sebastian Counties.

The Crisis Center utilizes paraprofessional volunteers from the community who are screened, trained, supervised and backed up by mental health professionals. A paraprofessional hotline volunteer is not a licensed counselor, but has intensive, specific training in the area of crisis intervention. The Crisis Center strives to respond to community needs in providing vital life-saving services. The Crisis Center offers several trainings a year for people who are interested in volunteering on either of the three hotlines.

Funding for the Crisis Center is provided by area United Way/United Fund agencies, the Charity Challenge of Champions Tennis Tournament, and contributions from area churches, businesses and individuals.

The Crisis Center is a member of the American Association of Suicidology.

Facts:

• The Crisis Center currently operates the only 24-hour crisis intervention telephone hotline services in the state of Arkansas.
  
  
• In addition to the Crisis Hotline, which began operation in 1985, a helpline focused on younger children, Phone Friend, became available in 1988, and in 1997 the Arkansas Teen Crisis Hotline came on line.
  
  
• All three phone systems are answered 24-hours a day, 365 days a year.  Committed, trained volunteers and agency staff perform this vital work.  The Teen Crisis Hotline is currently answered by trained adolescents 15 to 19 years old approximately 40% of the time.
  
  
• Calls to any of these lines are absolutely confidential, free and, and if the caller chooses, anonymous.
  
  
• Hotline volunteers assisted over 10,000 callers in the past two years.
  
  
• Volunteers respond with a caring ear, helping callers to recognize their problems and identify realistic solutions.  Volunteers have a comprehensive resource database available, from which they can draw appropriate and useful referrals to pass on to callers.
  
  
• Northwest Arkansas Crisis Intervention Center began operation in 1985 with a primary mission of suicide prevention. The Crisis Center now assists with calls concerning suicide, substance abuse, physical and emotional abuse, relationship problems, divorce, loneliness, rape, depression, HIV and AIDS, financial difficulties, runaways, teenage problems, emergency shelter, pregnancy, sexual orientation, etc.
  
  
• In addition to telephone services, the Crisis Center provides other services that are free to the community, including a variety of educational opportunities, prevention programs, and an active speaker's bureau available for businesses, civic groups, churches, etc.
  
  
• The Crisis Center is the Arkansas state representative for the National Peer Helper Association and currently supports successful Peer Helper programs in 16 area schools.
  
  
• The Northwest Arkansas Crisis Intervention Center is funded by the Charity Challenge of Champions Tennis Tournament, United Way and United Funds, state and federal grants and private contributions.