Long Island Crisis Center

Pfy (formerly pride for youth), a division of licc, was established in 1993 to serve Long islands lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning/queer (lgbtq) youth and their families. Pfy delivers a cadre of free services: individual, family and group counseling (through age 30); weekly support groups; sexual health services providing education on hiv/stds (including testing); prep/pep and specialized health services for young gay/bisexual men (through age 45); youth leadership opportunities; mpowerment, a nationally-recognized program that provides hiv/aids and hepatitis c prevention through community outreach and education to gay/bisexual men of color up to 30 years of age; and the coffeehouse, a weekly, friday evening drop-in Center for lgbtq youth and their straight allies.

Building healthy lives through education is liccs community education program that presents workshops in schools (on-site and virtually) for students and professional staff. In 2022, there were more than 21,500 attendees. These workshops encompass topics that respond to emerging health problems and emotional dilemmas that affect young people and present challenging behaviors for classroom teachers. Topics for students include: suicide prevention for adolescents; managing emotions; cyber bullying awareness; lets talk mental health; coping with Crisis; understanding sexual orientation; understanding gender; and how to be an effective lgbtq ally. School staff and professionals are offered suicide prevention, working through covid, working with the lgbtq community, and others.

Long Island Crisis Center, established in 1971, provides 24/7, 365 days-a-year suicide prevention and Crisis intervention services for Long Island residents. In its fifty years licc has grown from one hotline to seven hotlines and an on-line chat program. The Crisis hotlines are staffed by volunteer counselors who undergo six months of intensive training. In 2022, they responded to more than 15,900 calls/chats. Since 2019 licc also answers the state hiv hotline, providing confidential hiv, sti and hepatitis c education, risk-reduction information and referrals free of charge to all new york state residents. In 2022, we received over 1,700 calls on this hotline.