Help Texts

Have you ever lost your keys? 🔑

When you did, you didn't assume they had stopped existing. You retraced your steps. You went back to where you last had them. You asked someone to help you look.

Craig J. Bryan uses that as an analogy for reasons for living. When someone tells you they have nothing to live for, that isn't proof their reasons are gone. It may mean they're hard to find, hard to remember, hard to think of in that moment.

And when keys truly don't turn up? A locksmith cuts a new one. Sometimes reasons for living have to be built.

For Su***de Prevention Month, our clinical team is recommending that clinicians and peer support providers read Rethinking Su***de: Why Prevention Fails, and How We Can Do Better for more ways to support people at risk.

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There are two weeks left to vote for Help Texts for a Product of the Year Award from Hospice News. 🙏

If our work has mattered to you, your team, or a grieving loved one, your vote is an easy way to help us reach more people grieving a loss.

As a reminder: 86% of hospice families stay subscribed to Help Texts for all 13 months. 95% say Help Texts helps them feel more supported in their grief.

We love that first number in particular. While most bereavement support fades within a few weeks, Help Texts continues to support families all the way through the first anniversary ❤️

Voting closes Sept 30 and takes about two minutes. Go to poyawards.hospicenews.com and click "Vote for your nominee now." You'll then need to download the eBook in order to cast your vote for Help Texts.

Thank you, truly.

Caring Contacts are brief, non-demanding care notes sent to someone at risk — just a reminder that somebody's thinking about them.

It's one of the few su***de prevention interventions actually shown to work, and the "why" comes down to a few things:

🔹 Reduces isolation — enhances feelings of connectedness and reminds people they're valued
🔹 Lowers risk — research shows it can significantly reduce suicidal ideation and subsequent attempts
🔹 Supplements care — designed to bridge the gaps between other forms of support

Disconnection fuels risk. Consistent, no-pressure contact fights back against that.

Help Texts was built on this same idea — we deliver prevention and postvention support by text, steady outreach, while asking nothing in return.

This month we're talking prevention, intervention, and postvention. Today: an intervention shown to work, and it's all about the power of consistently showing up.

Read the research → https://doi.org/10.1037/ser0000645

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September is Su***de Prevention Month. 💜

All month, we'll be talking about su***de — prevention, intervention, and postvention.

Starting with this: asking someone directly whether they're thinking about su***de does not put the idea in their head. It's one of the most protective things you can do!

If someone has been on your mind, ask them. You don't need the perfect words.

Together, let's ***de 💛

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Today is National Grief Awareness Day.

If the people around you have stopped bringing your loved one up, know that you are allowed to say their name still. You are allowed to tell a story about them in the middle of an ordinary conversation. You are allowed to still be in it, however long it has been.

And if you are the friend who does not know what to say: "It's been a while since I've checked in, how are you holding up right now?" has never once been the wrong thing.

What did someone say to you that helped? Leave a 🤍 in the comments if you needed this today.

Tabitha Brown keynoted ALS Nexus this year. She lost her mom to ALS in 2007, and she spoke about her mother's smile, how ALS took it in her last months, and how Tabitha smiles now because she can.

"Because I am able, I smile."

Our got to be there for it. Thank you, Tabitha 🤍

There is no app for this.

No download, no login, no appointment to keep. Just a message that arrives on the phone you already have, twice a week, for a year.

Every message is written by grief experts — psychotherapists, thanatologists, grief researchers. Not AI. Available in 29 languages.

You don't have to explain yourself to anyone, be anywhere, or be ready.

If you would like to know more, comment TEXTS below and we will send you the details. Or send this to someone who might need it more than you do right now.

Very few hospices reach out to families on the anniversary of a death. Bereavement teams are small, caseloads run high, and there is no realistic way to hold that many dates in a year alongside everything else the role requires.

Families notice those days regardless. When we ask which messages meant the most to them, they usually name an anniversary, a birthday, or a holiday, because that is when grief is hardest and when hearing from the hospice team really matters. This intentional text message tells them their person still matters and that their grief is still being supported.

Help Texts makes sure those dates are covered. 140+ expert-written touchpoints across 13 months, twice weekly, in 29 languages, without adding anything to your team's workload.

Want to learn more? Drop a comment, and we will reach out.

None of my co-workers asked.

The silence usually comes from good intentions. Nobody wants to be the one who makes someone cry at their desk. So the loss goes unmentioned, and the person grieving learns to leave it at the door.

If you've been through this: what do you wish someone had said?

And if you're the coworker who isn't sure what to say — "I heard about your dad. Do you have some time today to talk?" is usually more than enough.