Offering a listening ear: Agora Crisis Center takes 10,000 calls every year

For more than 50 years, Agora Crisis Center has been a listening ear.

Volunteers answer calls on four-hour shifts, listening to someone’s worries and sometimes helping the caller make a safety plan or find resources like therapists, doctors, food pantries or legal aid. The call center takes 10,000 calls per year, Agora outreach coordinator Zoey Leyba said.

“That’s only tended to trend upwards since the pandemic has happened. … There’s more people who are aware of the importance of mental health,” Leyba said.

Agora is meant to help prevent or delay a moment of crisis, said Mal Ramos, campus outreach coordinator. The crisis line was started at the University of New Mexico after a student died by suicide in 1970.

The only time volunteers breach a call’s confidentiality is when someone is suicidal and in imminent danger. Then they would typically call Albuquerque Community Services to respond, Leyba said.

In 2021, New Mexico had the fourth-highest suicide death rate in the country with 25 suicides per 100,000 people, 533 in all, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“Living in New Mexico, we’re a rural state, we’re a state with less economic means than other places, and there’s gaps in services because of that,” Leyba said, “and so this is just one of the many things that are out there to support people in a time of need.”

January is Mental Wellness Awareness Month, a good time to focus on the importance of mental well-being. Being aware of mental health warning signs and the resources that exist can be useful individually, but is also helpful for supporting loved ones, according to Ramos.

“It’s easier to support people you love if you know at least the general aspects of mental health and why we should be aware of it,” Ramos said.

Despite the helpline’s longevity, the space where Agora operates in Albuquerque is relatively humble, resembling a small home packed with cubicle walls and office detritus. Phone stations dominate three rooms connected by a central hallway.

White boards are abundant. A whiteboard with a checklist for starting a shift, an erasable calendar showing who is working when, and a short list of banned callers who have been openly abusive or overtly sexual with the volunteers. In the hall is a self-care station with fidgets, Valentine’s chocolates and a list of 50 ways to take a break. The director’s office doubles as a space where volunteers can debrief after a challenging call.

Volunteers commit to 220 hours, which takes about a year to complete. They need to be 18 or older and have completed Agora’s training. The training is four consecutive Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Trainees are paired with a mentor and role-play phone call scenarios, then take their first call with the mentor on hand.

“It not only gives you information to handle a crisis, but helps build up your confidence to be able to do something like that,” Ramos said.

There are approximately 100 active volunteers. Many are UNM students, some of whom might be studying psychology or have an interest in counseling or nonprofit work. After graduating, some move away and cycle out. But some volunteers stay long term.

Leyba has been working for Agora, initially as a volunteer just answering phones, for 12 years.

“When I was in high school, I had a really difficult time,” Leyba said. “I was going through really tough depression, a lot of family health issues going on, and I didn’t know that this was a thing that existed. If I did, I would have called it every single day, with no exaggeration.”

She thinks it’s important to have a place like Agora, where people can talk without a time limit, having to pay money or having to come up with a solution. Working for Agora has made her realize how capable she is, Leyba said.

Leyba is a transgender woman who started volunteering with Agora before she transitioned.

“It’s taught me new skills. It’s given me a comfortable place to be myself as a human being. If I didn’t have this place, transition would have been much harder,” she said. “So, I can’t stress it enough that it’s just an amazing group of people with an incredible mission.”