We provide 24/7, free, high quality, confidential and non-judgmental programs and services to support and empower Long Islanders at critical times in their lives.
VALUES:
Long Island Crisis Center embraces these core values to guide its good work of providing services to all stakeholders of the community:
Timeliness
People in crisis cannot wait. We respond immediately to all calls for help.
Integrity
All agency activities - internal and external - are guided by the highest professional and ethical standards and infused with a rigorous commitment to excellence.
Respect
All services are provided confidentially and unconditionally. We hold the utmost regard for the dignity of everyone we encounter - clients, volunteers, funders, donors, staff, colleagues and other stakeholders. This value carries across all interactions within the agency including intra-staff, board/staff and staff/volunteer communications.
Transparency
Clarity, openness and accuracy are essential elements of accountability. We strive for complete transparency in all agency transactions. This includes accounting standards, financial statements, HR policies, vendor contracts, donor stewardship, resource allocations and all internal and external communications.
Innovation
We are committed to providing programs and services that go where the need is greatest, utilizing the latest technology and culturally appropriate approaches to meet evolving needs and achieve high-quality, client-centered services that are true to our mission.
Empowerment
We help the most marginalized and disenfranchised populations find their voice. We advocate with - and for - them. We are willing to take risks, both politically and financially, in order that all people have equal and appropriate services available.
Long Island Crisis Center (originating as “Middle Earth”) was created in the early 1970s by Adelphi University students as a telephone and drop-in counseling center for fellow students experiencing problems ranging from alienation to drug use. The Nassau County Youth Board recognized the potential for this grassroots organization and, in 1971, began funding Middle Earth Switchboard, answered by volunteer counselors, to help all Nassau County youth.
Middle Earth grew from a small campus office to a multi-service agency by seeing a need and expanding programs to meet that need.
The anonymity of the crisis center hotline made it possible for young people from stigmatized populations get the help and support they desperately needed. For example, gay and lesbian youth had no available support services throughout the 1980s. LICC saw the need for peer counseling, advocacy, and support programs for these kids and, in 1993 received a grant from the Paul Rapoport Foundation to form Pride for Youth, a project whose mission is to enhance the health and wellness of LGBT youth through education, supportive services, and youth development. Today, PFY provides counseling, peer education and outreach and runs a drop-in center (the Coffeehouse) with an on-site social worker and free transportation.
In 1999, recognizing that many people, especially youth, feel more comfortable “talking” through the Internet, LICC Online was started, the nation’s first live, anonymous, one-on-one Internet counseling
Always on the cutting edge of social services, Long Island Crisis Center’s newest projects reach out to homeless and street-involved youth. The Street Outreach/Gang Intervention mobile van travels to five of Nassau County’s most at-risk communities to provide survival aid, educational materials and case management.
