Kalamazoo's Gryphon Place turns 40: Agency known for suicide prevention offers much more

Kalamazoo's Gryphon Place was founded in 1970 as a substance abuse prevention drop-in center, but has evolved into much more. In that era, call center workers fielded 3,000 or 4,000 calls a year. By comparison, the 211/HELP line received 64,455 calls between October 2008 and September 2009, and is projected to handle 91,000 this year.

The organization has expanded from simply substance abuse and suicide prevention to a "one-stop reference guide for people with a range of health or human services needs."

Like other community agencies, Gryphon Place has been hard hit by the economic downturn, according to Pell. Local funding has fallen by $100,00, according to the agency’s 2009 annual report, at a time when the need for services has increased.

Though suicide-related calls have remained steady, calls about basic needs, such as people seeking help with utility shut-offs, evictions, foreclosures, hunger and homelessness, increased by 10 percent two years ago, by 11 percent last year, and 10 percent this year.

The high numbers, says Pell, reflect many “newly poor” in the community, people who always had jobs, homes and food until recently, but now find themselves in dire financial trouble. These people, he said, “don’t understand the system, they’re embarrassed and demoralized, and they don’t like asking for help.”

For people in poverty, there is no "map" or "guide" of how reach or access services. Many people rely on service referral organizations such as Gryphon Place to direct them to the correct organizations. Without them, they would be forced to call and/or visit every organization until they filled the right need. To say that this service is crucial would be an understatement.

Happy 40th birthday Gryphon place!

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