Name:  Margaret Mathis
Age: 56
Home: Arlington, VA

We met Margaret while visiting our daughter in Arlington over the Christmas holiday. 

Work:  Director of Hotline Services and Training at CrisisLink in Arlington.  (www.crisislink.org )

What makes her interesting?:  Margaret devotes her life to assisting those who find themselves in desperate situations.  She coordinates and manages the volunteers who anonymously answer calls coming into Crisislink, a crisis prevention agency with a mission to save lives.   

Important event in her life:  Margaret married for the first time when she was nineteen.  When the relationship didn’t work out, she found herself working in the medical field to support her two young daughters.  Life was hectic with the focus on meeting the needs of the children.  When she met and married her current husband, all of that changed.  His position with the Department of Defense took them to Seoul, South Korea.  Margaret did not have to work which meant she had both the time and resources to pursue her own personal growth goals.  She enrolled in the University of Maryland extension program in Seoul where she gravitated toward Psychology courses.  As she progressed through her degree, she realized this interest in the study of behavior reflected an intuitive lifelong curiosity about people.  She had just never had the opportunity before to formally act on it. 

In 1998, Margaret and her family left Korea and returned to the Washington, D.C. area. She fully intended to continue her academic track at the graduate level.  The application process required evidence of some hands-on experience in the field.  She saw an ad for volunteers at CrisisLink and answered it.  What started out as a necessary step towards a master’s degree or possible doctorate turned into a professional commitment which has brought her tremendous satisfaction for almost ten years.

When the position of Director of Hotline Services and Training came available, Margaret jumped at the chance.  She had become thoroughly familiar with the crucial service Crisislink provided to the community.  Rather than continue towards her degree, she dedicated herself to the work of crisis prevention.

The work of CrisisLink:  Calls that come into CrisisLink are different from those to 911 where an action is already in progress or imminent.  They are a cry for help.  The caller is still holding on to life even if by a thread.  Some calls are from those contemplating suicide, but not all.  The goal of the volunteer handling the situation is to empower the caller to make their own decisions in a positive way and to give them information on the resources available. 

Every circumstance is different and many are quite challenging.  Volunteers take their roles seriously and have the backing of not only the professionals within the organization, but also outside consultations and a national network.  CrisisLink is a part of the Nationwide Crisis Intervention Hotline at 1-800-273-Talk and is linked to www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org.

With all of this support and the technological advances in the field of psychology, one factor truly remains significant at CrisiLlink – the essential role of one human being helping another at a time of crisis.  One volunteer has worked with the agency for 30 years.  He proclaims that his reward comes from the privilege of helping others and knowing that, if the situation were reversed, he would have someone to help him.

Obviously, not all crises end in a successful conclusion.  There are 30,000 reported incidents of suicide each year in the U.S. which is acknowledged as only the tip of the iceberg.  But, the vast majority of the time, callers move beyond the crisis to the help they need.
 
Philosophy of Life:  “We should embrace each other’s differences, always keeping in mind that do have many human qualities in common.”