May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and experts are reminding Washington state’s Native communities that free mental-health support is available anytime.

The Native and Strong Lifeline, launched in 2022, is a suicide and crisis hotline for American Indian and Alaska Native people in Washington. People can reach the line 24 hours a day by calling 988 and pressing 4, texting N8V to 988, or going online.

Jeremy Rouse, tribal services program manager for Volunteers of America Western Washington, which runs the lifeline, said it was founded in response to disproportionately high suicide rates among Native communities. But he said the service is available for a wide range of needs.

“We operate on the idea that it's crisis as defined by the caller,” Rouse said. “So it can be something that's really serious and severe, or it can be someone just needs someone to talk to and connect to that day to kind of just help them get through.”

Rouse said callers can also be referred to the Native Resource Hub, which provides support with housing, food and other basic needs.

Washington’s Native and Strong Lifeline is the first 24/7 crisis line in the United States designed for and staffed by Indigenous people. Rouse said that matters because of the long history of Native people being prevented from caring for one another.

“We're the best equipped to take care of each other and support each other,” he said. “I think that there's certain lived experiences, cultural aspects that definitely help us connect with our callers.”

Rouse said the lifeline has about 1,500 interactions a month through chats and phone calls.