Middle Earth

Long Island Crisis Center (originating as "Middle Earth") was created in the early 1970s by Adelphi University students as a telephone and drop-in counseling center for fellow students experiencing problems ranging from alienation to drug use. The Nassau County Youth Board recognized the potential for this grassroots organization and, in 1971, began funding Middle Earth Switchboard, answered by volunteer counselors, to help all Nassau County youth. Middle Earth grew from a small campus office to a multi-service agency by seeing a need and expanding programs to meet that need. The anonymity of the crisis center hotline made it possible for young people from stigmatized populations get the help and support they desperately needed. For example, gay and lesbian youth had no available support services throughout the 1980s. LICC saw the need for peer counseling, advocacy, and support programs for these kids and, in 1993 received a grant from the Paul Rapoport Foundation to form Pride for Youth, a project whose mission is to enhance the health and wellness of LGBT youth through education, supportive services, and youth development. Today, PFY provides counseling, peer education and outreach and runs a drop-in center (the Coffeehouse) with an on-site social worker and free transportation. In 1999, recognizing that many people, especially youth, feel more comfortable "talking" through the Internet, LICC Online was started, the nation's first live, anonymous, one-on-one Internet counseling Always on the cutting edge of social services, Long Island Crisis Center's newest projects reach out to homeless and street-involved youth. The Street Outreach/Gang Intervention mobile van travels to five of Nassau County's most at-risk communities to provide survival aid, educational materials and case management.