MBTA launches new anti-suicide program with Samaritans
The MBTA will partner with Samaritans, a suicide prevention group, to launch its “You Are Not Alone’’ campaign, according to Steve Mongeau, executive director of the Samaritans of Boston.
The T will broadcast the helpline numbers using the same announcement system that tells people when the next train arrives. The announcements will take place between 7 a.m. and 9 p.m. on weekdays, and 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekends.
“I think it is an incredibly exciting program to get our state wide help number out inf fornt of the public, and that’s including our texting helpline,’’ Mongeau said.
Information on how to contact the Samaritans’ helpline will also appear on 80 digital screens in seven of the largest subway stations, in Boston and Cambridge. A “message of hope’’ will scroll across all stations’ LED notification boards every two hours.
There were 28 MBTA track-related deaths that were ruled suicides in the last three years, according to The Boston Globe.
Mongeau said he hopes people who are feeling lonely, hopeless, or desperate will use the number, and that their pool of volunteers to answer those calls and texts will continue to grow. Currently, there are 300 volunteers that answer over 100,00 texts and phone calls throughout the year, he said.
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