{"id":60977,"date":"2022-11-22T15:30:00","date_gmt":"2022-11-22T23:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/home\/states-native-american-crisis-hotline-is-first-in-the-nation\/"},"modified":"2022-11-23T15:50:27","modified_gmt":"2022-11-23T23:50:27","slug":"states-native-american-crisis-hotline-is-first-in-the-nation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/northwest\/states-native-american-crisis-hotline-is-first-in-the-nation\/","title":{"rendered":"State’s Native American crisis hotline is first in the nation"},"content":{"rendered":"

Washington is now the only state with a mental health crisis hotline dedicated to American Indian and Alaska Native peoples.<\/p>\n

Many tear-soaked eyes watched and listened as tribal leaders, state and federal officials, and crisis hotline staff celebrated the launch of the Native and Strong Lifeline on Thursday in Everett.<\/p>\n

“It’s a really historic day,” said Loni Greninger, vice-chair of the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe, and co-chair of the Governor’s Tribal Leaders Social Services Council. Tribal nations have been working on this for decades, she said. “We don’t want this to go by quietly – it’s time to celebrate.”<\/p>\n

In Washington state, American Indian and Alaska Native people have had a higher suicide rate than all other racial\/ethnic groups in nine of the past ten years. <\/p>\n