Volunteering Leads to Career for Crisis Center Official

Standing on the Sunshine Skyway bridge, the man told the woman on the other end of the line that he was going to jump.

He didn't want to talk about what was troubling him. That didn't stir Adrienne Finn, then working as a crisis specalist answering calls for 2-1-1, Hillsborough County's help line that connects callers to the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay.

"In a scenario like that, he's standing on the ledge, and you're stressed about the fact that if I say the wrong thing, would he jump?" Finn said. "A lot of it is, 'What are you willing to talk to me about?'"

Finn, 26, stayed on the line with the man until police came.

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It's one of many scenarios she's dealt with since she began her career at the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay as a volunteer in 2006. Now, the Town N' Country resident is client resources manager at the center, handling a newly launched donation program called

The program allows the public to help aid current clients of the center - which provides counseling, forensic examinations and suicide prevention services - by giving donors a direct route to give much-needed items.

The donation program was launched this May, and is based off of www.modestneeds.org, an organization that allows web-based donations.

"What if your car breaks down or you need new tires?" Finn said. "It gives you an avenue for that."

Finn said those who receive donations are asked to write a thank-you letter to the donor.

"It's overwhelming for them," she said. "They are shocked that the community cares."

Kim Payne, marketing and public relations manager for the center off Bearss Avenue in north Tampa, said it's important that donors see how their money is being used.

"A lot of people can't give a large amount of money to something," he said. "It's everything form a mattress to sleep on to bus fare."

For more information, or to share a need, contact Finn at 813-969-4902, or go to www.everycentcounts.org.