Eleanor Letcher, long time Executive Director of CONTACT of Mercer County, NJ, graduated from Douglass College, Rutgers University and has a Master's in Education from The College of New Jersey.    

In her many years at CONTACT she has seen huge changes in the way that Mental Illness and Suicide Prevention services are offered. In the past there was major stigma surrounding Mental Illness to the point that people typically didn't disclose any reference to personal or familial Mental Health challenges. Fortunately, the major stigma has lessened although stigma still exists in the minds of many people. Stigma can and does prevent people from seeking services. 

In the early days of CONTACT's Hotlines in 1970's and 1980's, suicide was rarely discussed by callers.  There were very few mentions of suicide in the media as compared to today.  Now, across media, Suicide and Mental Illness are prevalent topics, headlines in newspapers and major topics in online media and television.   

As the awareness of Mental Illness and Suicide has grown in the population, the world has been stricken by Covid and lockdowns and restrictions.  More people have been affected by loneliness, isolation, depression and mental illness as well as thoughts of suicide.  People need to reach out. Talking helps when there is someone who listens and cares.  CONTACT provides that help to many via active listening and emotional support, and in rare cases, active intervention is started when a person is in imminent risk of suicide.  

The introduction of 988 nationally in July, 2022, brought increased awareness as well as funding to Hotlines across the US.  CONTACT's range of Hotlines includes phone, text and chat.  CONTACT of Mercer County, NJ provides person to person response to 988 Calls, Chats, Texts.  This is a service that will grow as the need continues to increase.  

Eleanor Letcher has lead CONTACT through these many challenges and foresees future changes in CONTACT's provision of care, including increased services and support to those who use CONTACT's Hotlines and Reassurance programs. 

There is Hope for the future! 

Tony Ciavolella is a mental health, suicide prevention, and crisis intervention leader with more than 30 years of combined experience in communications, organizational leadership, and mental health crisis counseling. His work is grounded in a single, unwavering mission: ensuring that people in emotional distress or suicidal crisis are met with compassion, safety, and timely support—when it matters most.

As Associate Executive Director of CONTACT of Mercer County, NJ, Tony plays a central role in advancing the organization’s suicide prevention mission across the full mental health crisis continuum. CONTACT is a nonprofit partner of the New Jersey 988 Suicide Prevention Lifeline, providing free and confidential telephone, chat, and text crisis services to individuals throughout the state. Through these services, CONTACT responds to thousands of help-seeking interactions each year, offering life-saving support to individuals experiencing suicidal ideation, emotional distress, isolation, or overwhelming life circumstances.

Under Tony’s leadership, CONTACT also operates the CONTACT Listening Line, a critical upstream prevention service that connects callers with trained, nonjudgmental counselors for support with personal and mental health concerns—often helping individuals before distress escalates into suicidal crisis. This emphasis on early intervention reflects Tony’s belief that suicide prevention begins long before someone reaches a breaking point.

Tony’s journey with CONTACT began in 2020 as a volunteer crisis counselor, where he supported individuals during some of the darkest moments of their lives. His firsthand experience on the frontlines continues to shape his leadership approach, ensuring that organizational decisions remain rooted in empathy, lived experience, and the realities faced by both help seekers and crisis counselors.

He later joined CONTACT’s Board of Directors, serving as a Member-at-Large and Vice President of the Board. In 2022, Tony played a key role in securing federal grant funding that enabled CONTACT to expand from a small, regional volunteer warmline into a nationally recognized 988 chat and text lifeline center. That same year, CONTACT became an official partner in the New Jersey 988 Suicide Prevention Lifeline network, significantly expanding its capacity to serve individuals in crisis statewide.

Before dedicating his career to suicide prevention, Tony built a distinguished background in crisis communications and public affairs—experience that now strengthens CONTACT’s operational readiness, public trust, and crisis response systems. He is an award-winning communications professional recognized by the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) and a recipient of the United States Coast Guard Meritorious Team Commendation for crisis media response during a major maritime incident.