No matter the crisis, here's the place to go

Weave through the hallways at the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay, and you find a variety of services under one roof.

You could get lost with all the turns, but don't call it a maze. People come into the Crisis Center lost and leave with direction.

One area contains the Nurse Examiners Program, where sexual assault victims receive forensic exams. The nurses and counselors help them recover their dignity. In the process, they regain a sense of who they are and take the first steps from victim to survivor.

In the APPLE Trauma Response Center, sexual abuse victims, including children and families, get counseling to heal their emotional wounds. Courtney, a docile golden retriever, comforts kids and makes it easier for them to talk. In the process, they go from trauma to triumph.

At 2-1-1 Tampa Bay, callers receive crisis intervention and referral information for problems ranging from mental health to substance abuse to economic well-being and social services. ElderNet provides homebound senior citizens with daily calls.

In the process, these clients go from uncertainty to reassurance.

Family Support Services offers temporary economic services for families who have fallen on hard times. In the process, people go from the fear of homelessness to the hope of better days.

The Crisis Center delivers more than 10 services out of an office building in North Tampa on Bearss Avenue. The synergy among the services often turns the center into one-stop shopping.

These days the group has had a lot of shoppers.

By Wednesday, the trauma center had 21 intakes for the month. Check your calendar. It's only July 10. Family support has seen dramatic rises in families asking for help with groceries (192 percent), utility bills (101 percent) and rent/mortgage (81 percent).

The higher demand is a sign of the times, and the center needs support.

"We're saving lives and restoring lives," said Crisis Center president and chief executive officer David Braughton, who took over six months ago. "What touched me is the absolute essential nature of the work here.

"We're so unique because of our diversity and the far-reaching range of services."

Braughton likes to tell the story of how he met a man from Seattle on a return trip to Tampa. The man was coming to help his brother deal with substance abuse and thoughts of suicide. He had one number and one option.

After speaking to one of the center's 2-1-1 counselors, he had a dozen numbers and a dozen options. Eventually, he found an assisted living facility for his brother. He called Braughton more than once to express his gratitude.

"Our entire focus is how do we make a difference in people's lives," Braughton said. "(Helping people) is the reason I get up every day."

And because Braughton and the center's staff and volunteers get up and get going every day, a lot of other people in this community are able to do the same thing.

That's all I'm saying.