StarVista Crisis Center

Our crisis hotline was founded in 1966 by suicide prevention pioneer, Charlotte Ross. It was the third crisis line founded in the state of California, with the goal of provide emergency assistance to people who were not in a medical crisis. Charlotte believed that the help given on a crisis line should be: Provided by crisis workers trained in suicide prevention and intervention, Available 24 hours a day, Confidential, Temporary in nature, Free of charge.

Our crisis hotline functions with those same tenets as when it was first founded. While our services have expanded, many of those tenets and our overall philosophy still apply. We believe that “crisis” is a normal part of life that an individual can experience. Sometimes, that crisis is too overwhelming for that person to handle alone. The purpose of our services is to help support that individual in the short-term, and empower them to find long-term support and solutions.