[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 120 (Tuesday, July 17, 2018)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1019]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             IN RECOGNITION OF 50 YEARS FOR CONCERN HOTLINE

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. BARBARA COMSTOCK

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 17, 2018

  Mrs. COMSTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I rise to congratulate and thank Concern 
Hotline for 50 years of selfless service to the people of the Northern 
Shenandoah Valley. In 1968, prompted by the stark reality of the 
highest rate of suicide among Vietnam Veterans on the East Coast, a 
group of caring community leaders in Winchester and the northern 
Shenandoah Valley, decided to intervene. They formed the first valley 
suicide and crisis center, where those feeling confused and desperate 
could call a number at the George Washington Hotel and be patched to a 
volunteer ready to be of support.
  Fifty years later, the organization is still doing extraordinary 
work, sometimes as a bridge-builder for Northwestern Community 
Services, before patients can make an appointment with a clinician. A 
trained staff of 35 volunteer ``listeners'' and two paid employees, are 
on duty 7 days a week, 24 hours a day, receiving calls on their cell 
phones and providing objective, confidential and anonymous contact with 
a fellow resident of the northern valley, anytime a person needs them 
and for as long as he or she needs them. The positive culture of 
Concern Hotline does not label any caller a ``chronic caller'' but 
welcomes all callers, including ``frequent callers.''
  The personal touch is what distinguishes Concern Hotline from many 
other telephonic support organizations. Their mission is ``to comfort 
and calm community members experiencing stress and crisis'' and they do 
what no other program in the community does: they simply listen 
compassionately. For its long history, the Concern Hotline team has 
kept the following commitment: ``We listen to your troubles and 
stresses, we hear your stories of hardship and pain, and we bear 
witness to your struggle to lead a happy, healthy life.''
  Mr. Speaker, I have always considered it a great honor to recognize 
and thank our community heroes such as our law enforcement officers, 
firefighters and emergency medical technicians for their willingness to 
help us during some of the most desperate times of our lives. 
Similarly, I ask you and our colleagues to join me in recognizing and 
thanking another group of community heroes, the volunteers and staff of 
our suicide prevention programs, and most especially the heroes of 
Concern Hotline, who, as listeners, have been saving lives and giving 
hope to the residents of the Northern Shenandoah Valley, for the past 
half century.

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