For decades, mental health has been criminalized and those in dire need of urgent support often don't receive it. Call For Help explores the gut-wrenching human stories that led to the new national 988 hotline for suicide prevention and mental health crises, now available from any phone in America. Hosted by Stephanie Wittels Wachs with special correspondent Zak Williams and available on August 16. Presented by Sozosei Foundation, and supported by The Jed Foundation, NAMI, and The Just Trust.

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988 is being promoted as a 24/7 national hotline to handle mental health emergencies. In theory, it could reimagine crisis response in America, minimizing police contact and connecting callers to mental health, substance use, and suicidal crises services. In reality, most states aren't ready for 988. On top of that, decades of criminalizing mental illness have caused widespread wariness of trusting the hotline. Call For Help uncovers what crisis response looks like in America, and what it will take for 988 to work. Hosted by Stephanie Wittels Wachs with special correspondent Zak Williams and available on August 16. Presented by Sozosei Foundation, and supported by The Jed Foundation, NAMI, and The Just Trust.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For far too long, the United States has put mental healthcare on the back burner. Through enormous advocacy and the initiation and rollout of the 988 hotline, a theoretical lifeline is now at the fingertips of every American. But in a country with a deep history of criminalizing mental health, will 988 live up to its potential? Today, Stephanie explores how 988 came to be, along with all the promise and peril it carries. Weekly special correspondent Zak Williams shares his personal mental health journey, how stigma impacted his father, Robin Williams, and how the actor’s death inspired him to become a mental health advocate. We also meet Congressman Seth Moulton, mental health advocate Keris Myrick, Executive Director of the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline John Draper, and Director of the Sozosei Foundation Melissa Beck.

SHOW NOTES

Get to Know 988

Learn about your state’s plan for funding 988.

https://reimaginecrisis.org/map/

Advocate

Email your representatives and sign a petition to request crisis services that are unique to your state and your community. 

https://nami.quorum.us/crisisadvocacy/

988 Policy

Dig into policy documents, resources and much more information.

https://www.sozoseifoundation.org/sozosei-foundation-updates

Listen to UBU

Keris Myrick’s podcast Unapologetically Black Unicorns.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/unapologetically-black-unicorns/id1568804071

Watch Zak’s Documentary

To learn more about Zak’s mental health journey and advocacy, you can watch the Oprah and Prince Harry’s documentary series “The Me You Can’t See”.

https://tv.apple.com/us/show/the-me-you-cant-see/umc.cmc.4amwght1qtt8ioilwr0mgnf6d

Call for Help is presented by Sozosei Foundation: A catalyst for ideas that nurture creative solutions for healthier communities. Learn more at SozoseiFoundation.org.

The Jed Foundation is a non-profit organization that protects emotional health and prevents suicide for teens and young adults. Visit JedFoundation.org for more information.

NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, is the nation's largest grassroots mental health organization. Learn more at nami.org.

The Just Trust is a group of funds one hundred percent dedicated to advancing criminal justice reform, state-by-state and across the country. Visit TheJustTrust.org to learn more. 

CREDITS

Call for Help is a Lemonada original, presented by Sozosei Foundation. Hosting and story-editing were done by Stephanie Wittels Wachs. Our producers are Alie Kilts and Alexa Lim. Tess Novotny is our associate producer. Natasha Jacobs is our engineer and sound designer. Music is by Xander Singh with additional music by Natasha Jacobs. Naomi Barr is our fact checker. Executive producers are Stephanie Wittels Wachs, Zak Williams and Jessica Cordova Kramer. Special thanks to Chrystal Genesis and Jackie Danziger for additional support.

Follow Stephanie on Twitter and Instagram at @wittelstephanie. Stay up to date with us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at @LemonadaMedia.

You can also get premium content and behind the scenes material by subscribing to Lemonada Premium on Apple Podcasts.

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Click this link for a list of current sponsors and discount codes for this and all other Lemonada series: lemonadamedia.com/sponsors.To follow along with a transcript, go to lemonadamedia.com/show/callforhelp shortly after the air date.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.