History & Overview

Our History
On August 1, 1963 a 12-year old girl was violently stabbed by a troubled letter carrier. Following the attack, it was learned that the assailant had been seeking help to curb aggressive impulses and had mentioned his feelings to several people preceding the incident. The young girl recovered, but her parents believed that the tragedy might have been avoided if the assailant had been able to turn to someone for help in managing his anger and emotions. They decided that a service was needed to help people in emotional distress cope with life’s, sometimes overwhelming, difficulties. Along with the support of people in the community, they responded by founding Crisis Clinic; a safe, confidential telephone service for people in similar circumstances to call and receive immediate and caring assistance from a skilled volunteer.

In March 1964 Crisis Clinic’s phone number was first listed in the Seattle phone book. For the first two months, volunteers and members of the Board of Trustees answered phone calls in their homes and at their places of work. The first Crisis Clinic office was opened in May 1964 with a part-time director, two telephones, a typewriter, a desk and two chairs. Through the years, Crisis Clinic has continued to expand and evolve in response to the needs of the community. Today the agency is organized around these major areas of work: telephone services, community services, volunteer services, and fund development.

Our Mission
Our passion is caring and listening – empowering people to make positive life changes. We do this through connections between people and critical resources.

Our Objective
Our objective is to provide immediate and confidential assistance, including information and linkage to community resources, for people in emotional distress and in need of help.

Our Programs & Services
Crisis Clinic offers a comprehensive array of telephone and support services that are available to every community member in King County. We can communicate with callers in 155 languages through the interpretation assistance of the Teleinterpreter service and with persons with hearing impairments through our TDD.
Each year we handle over 170,000 calls for help.

Crisis Clinic is deemed by King County as one of the key agencies to contact in times of disaster and to assist in defusing major crises. We also serve as a key entry point into the County mental health system. All phone workers have immediate access to our computerized database of more than 13,000 health and human service providers in the region. We help our callers navigate the complex and confusing world of the social service system, and provide advocacy and follow-up for callers who have difficulty accessing services on their own.