by SOSCS | Jun 5, 2020 | 50 Stories for 50 Years of SOS
Cath Antkowiak-Howard worked at a crisis center in Indiana in 1970 when she was a high school student. She moved to Ypsilanti in 1974 because her partner was attending graduate school. She knew she wanted to continue her crisis work in Michigan. So she began...
by SOSCS | Mar 12, 2020 | 50 Stories for 50 Years of SOS
Content Warning: This story includes mention of self-harm. John Brandeberry was a typical nice guy who loved to start up a good conversation with other friendly people. In 1969 when he was a student at Eastern Michigan University, he ended up talking to two young...
by SOSCS | Mar 9, 2020 | 50 Stories for 50 Years of SOS
Carole Wortley came to SOS as a volunteer crisis counselor in 1976. In 1977, she became a staff member at SOS, focused on recruiting, training, and supporting volunteers. Carole’s warm and encouraging approach to her work is well remembered by SOS volunteers who...
by SOSCS | Mar 6, 2020 | 50 Stories for 50 Years of SOS
In the 1970s, I was a Biology/Chemistry major at Eastern Michigan University. I wasn’t a very touchy feely type of person. My path was to be a researcher in a lab or some kind of technical job. I transferred to EMU as a sophomore and didn’t have many friends. I...
by SOSCS | Feb 13, 2020 | 50 Stories for 50 Years of SOS
Content Warning: This story contains discussion of suicide. Vicki Niebrugge came from a small town in Oakland County. When she arrived in Washtenaw County in the early 1970s, she wanted to volunteer at a new agency called SOS Crisis Center. She went to the very...
by SOSCS | Jan 16, 2020 | 50 Stories for 50 Years of SOS
Judith Cawhorn was SOS’s first development director in the 1990s. She shared that one day, early in her tenure, she remembers when it really hit home for her how important SOS is to people. It was a really busy day. The phones were ringing off the hook and SOS...
