History

Headquarters is one of the oldest continually operating crisis services in this country - something for this community to be very proud of. One of the reasons we have continued is because we adapt to meet new needs in new ways.

December 16, 1969: Headquarters opened its doors! HQ was the brainchild of KU undergraduate Brian Bauerle. The First United Methodist Church allocated $858.55 to fund the first three months of HQ as a "community drug use & abuse center" and 24-hour hotline.

Headquarters began with three live-in staff in a communal house at 1546 Massachusetts. Anyone, particularly high school kids, could call or drop in anytime to hang out, attend classes on drug abuse, use the drug library or just talk. HQ was controversial from the start, including with its neighbors because of the noise and the "hippie-types" it attracted, and with the straight community in general because of its "anti-establishment" orientation, including publishing a controversial underground newspaper.

In 1970 Headquarters became "Headquarters, Inc." and moved to 1124 Mississippi. A Street Drug Analysis Program began in conjunction with Kansas University. It grew to become one of the most respected street drug analysis programs in the nation, before Kansas Attorney General Vern Miller shut it down in 1973. After that Headquarters began collapsing as community support, funding, and volunteer energy were going fast. HQ had to move out of 1124 Mississippi and was without a location of its own until June, 1971. The first full-time Director, Ric Silber, was hired. Headquarters existed temporarily as a phone line in Ric and his wife Louise's apartment. Ric started re-building HQ.

During 1971 HQ began its first formal training of volunteers and became a drug information, general referral, personal crisis and suicide intervention center. HQ moved into 1632 Kentucky and, for the first time, staff did not live-in. From 1972, Headquarters was becoming known as a crisis center for people of all ages with all kinds of concerns, and began receiving money from the Lawrence United Fund (now Douglas County United Way) and K.U. Student Activity Fees. After much hard work establishing Headquarters, Ric decided he needed to leave in 1973. Following an infamous drug raid by Vern Miller in 1974, County Attorney David Berkowitz asked Headquarters to develop an alternative to incarceration for first-time drug offenders. The Court Diversion Program began, with 12 of the 31 arrested referred without trial to HQ's pilot program. The same year paid staff provided individual and group counseling and alternatives such as guided imagery and biofeedback training. Headquarters moved into 1602 Massachusetts. In 1975 HQ organized a spring fling at South Park for the entire city of Lawrence called "Everybody Day" which continued as an annual tradition through 1985. In 1979 Marcia Epstein, volunteer since 1975, was hired as Director in September.

In 1984 Headquarters moved into 1419 Massachusetts and in 1985 the Phone A Friend program began. In 1986 Headquarters begins participating in the American Association of Suicidology, while from 1987-1990 Suicide contacts, which had more than doubled from 1984 to 1987, doubled again from 1987 to 1989.

In 1991 Counseling use reached the highest point in HQ's history with close to 18,000 contacts, more than twice those from ten years earlier. In 1994 HQ sponsored a "gun turn-in" as a statement against impulse suicide. A toll-free phone was established in Baldwin City, opening up that area to HQ services. In 1996 The Baker University Psychology Dept. began to officially include HQ as an internship site. Also during 1996, HQ began a collaboration with United Way and the Lawrence Public Library to create Douglas County CAIRS. As part of this collaboration, HQ prepared to launch a new name for a long-standing program, First Call for Help, giving people in Douglas and surrounding counties one central number to call to obtain referrals to community resources. From 1998 - 2001 Headquarters was challenged by turnover in paid staffing, and reduced numbers of volunteer counselors - trends experienced at centers across the country. At the same time it maintained focus on providing good service, with high quality training for our volunteers, and worked toward increasing our funding base.

In 2001 Headquarters became part of the National Hopeline Network, focusing on calls from the entire state of Kansas area codes to 1.800.SUICIDE.

In 2004 when SAMHSA provided funding to the Mental Health Association of New York City to begin the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline network (NSPL), HQCC began counseling all Kansas callers to 1.800.273.TALK, as well. HQCC remains the only center in the state of Kansas certified by AAS and the only center in the state providing counseling for Kansas callers to the two national numbers for suicide prevention. This service is available free, 24 hours every day.