Want an empathetic, non-judgmental listening ear? Call the St. Louis Queer+ Support Helpline (SQSH) to chat with a trained LGBTQIA-affirming peer.
SQSH offers free, confidential, and identity-affirming emotional support and resource referrals, by and for the St. Louis LGBTQIA+ community. Call anytime between Friday to Monday, 1:00 to 7:00 PM. Our peer support Helpline Volunteers would love to chat with you.
Helpline Volunteers provide confidential and identity-affirming emotional support and resource referrals, taking 3.5-hour shifts weekly between Fridays-Mondays, 1:00PM-7:00PM. Applicants for the Fall Training Class must be available on Saturdays 12:30-5:30PM from September 26, 2020 to Dec. 19, 2020 for the 48-hour peer counselor training. Applicants will go through two interview rounds and must be at least 18 years old before starting to take shifts. Read about the Helpline Training Curriculum.
Applications for the Fall Training Class close on August 28 and recur twice every year.
Have you ever thought about calling SQSH, but hesitated because it’s hard to pick up the phone?
We understand how intimidating it can be to access a service, especially for those of us with phone anxiety. To increase the accessibility of our service, SQSH is launching a Call Request System! See the form below to schedule a call from one of our trained LGBTQIA-affirming peer counselors.
The World Community Center uses donations to provide subsidized office spaces for the past 45 years to some of St. Louis’s most amazing grassroots nonprofits. Please consider making a donation to support housing amazing grassroot organizations and social justice groups.
SQSH stands in solidarity against systemic violence against the Black community. We train our Helpline volunteers in protest-specific peer counseling skills and encourage you to support the following St. Louis organizations doing movement work for Black lives.
SQSH is working towards racial equity and justice.
Currently, we are:
Training our Helpline Volunteers in protest-specific peer counseling skills in order to offer SQSH as a resource to support the Black Lives Matter Movement and our local protest community.
Utilizing our outreach platforms to boost bail funds, protests, and other actions in support of BLM.
Mobilizing our members to attend actions and community events in support of BLM.
Engaging in conversations internally and with our community partners to assess how we can most effectively support the work of local Black-led organizations.
Building and maintaining a reading list of educational resources about race that we continually use to improve our members’ level of anti-racism education.
Beginning every monthly meeting with a moment of silence to acknowledge the deep injustice, pain and heaviness in the murders of George Floyd, Tony McDade, Nina Pop, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Kiwi Herring, Michael Brown, and countless other Black individuals.
Continuing to require and implement a 4-hour anti-racism training for our Helpline Volunteers as part of their Foundational Training when they join SQSH.
Developing an in-house, multi-session anti-bias training specifically tailored to various teams in SQSH to interrupt the impact of bias on every aspect of SQSH’s operations.
Engaging in AROC’s Learning to Action Circles for our White and mixed-race volunteers to unlearn and disrupt their relationship to White privilege and hold each other accountable to ending White supremacy in their lives.
In the long-term, we hope to:
Form a cross-team anti-racism working group within SQSH to research and analyze which in which we can combat racism within SQSH and as an organization. This includes a systematic study of why SQSH is lacking in racial diversity and channeling resources towards addressing these reasons.
Provide all new members in SQSH with required anti-racism education alongside peer counseling training.
Interested in collaborating with SQSH on anti-racism work?
We offer a free, confidential, identity-affirming, and volunteer-run helpline serving the St. Louis region. Our trained peer counselors provide compassionate support to any LGBTQIA+ community members, allies, and service providers.
Our mission is to serve and strengthen the St. Louis LGBTQIA+ community—by providing an empathetic listening ear, by connecting callers safely and reliably to LGBTQIA-affirming resources, and by increasing the visibility of LGBTQIA+ concerns, needs, and resources in the St. Louis region.
The SQSH community is made up of a dedicated group of volunteers. As members of the queer community ourselves, we understand the isolation, stigmatization, and fear that can arise from lack of acceptance by our societies.
We are always looking for dedicated, humble individuals who are passionate about serving the St. Louis LGBTQIA+ community. Apply to become a helpline volunteer, or join a SQSH project team!