My Nonprofit Reviews

I have been volunteering at Teen Lifeline for a little over two years now. I heard about it through my sister who had been volunteering there for a couple years. She told me how incredible her experience had been and told me to join, however, I was a slightly reluctant because this isn't the type of thing I normally do. I could not have been more wrong and deciding to work here was honestly one of the best choices I have made in my life so far. I would say that teen lifeline helps two distinct groups of people. First, are the teenagers that call in after or during a crisis and second are the people that volunteer here. The people that call in are usually worried, lonely and scared. However, When they hang up the phone they have thoroughly dissected their problem and have a step by step way to deal with their problem. This help, although amazing on its own, is miniscule compared to the empowerment they feel to solve their own problems. The volunteers never tell them what to do, but instead, they use various skills in order to let the caller figure it out themselves. This allows them to use the healthy problem solving methods and coping skills they learned in all their future problems. Normally, you wouldn't expect an organization to help its volunteers as much as the people the organization is supporting, but the environment at the Teen Lifeline building is one of support and friendliness. Since all the volunteers are teenagers, we are going through many of the problems we hear from our callers. But when we come in to take calls, we have several people all here o listen to us and be there for us. I have always noticed that when I start a shift if I do not know somebody, by the end they are a good friend I can tell anything too. Teen Lifeline has made me a more well-rounded person and it has allowed me to personally help people that really need it. Without Teen Lifeline, my high school experience would have been much more difficult to deal with.

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