St. Louis Queer+ Support Helpline (SQSH, affectionately pronounced “squish”) is a grassroots, community-based organization dedicated to providing spaces and support for queer St. Louisans to thrive. Our mission is to strengthen the LGBTQIA+ community in the St. Louis MO-IL Metro Area by providing empathetic listening, safe and reliable connections to identity-affirming resources, as well as education and advocacy for LGBTQIA+ needs.

To achieve our mission, SQSH has planned and implemented 6 key programs since our founding in March 2019:

1. Peer Support Helpline Service

Queer St. Louisans disproportionately face negative mental health outcomes, including high risks for depression, anxiety disorders, and suicidal thoughts/attempts. Our Helpline provides free, confidential, identity-affirming emotional support and resource referrals, filling a unique niche as the only LGBTQIA-specific tele-service staffed by peer counselors in the St. Louis region.

2. SQSHBook Resource Database

We boost the St. Louis LGBTQIA+ community’s access to resources using a comprehensive, one-of-its-kind resource guide called the SQSHBook, which catalogs 1,200+ St. Louis resources, consolidates vetting information from queer-led organizations, collects “word on the street” feedback from queer St. Louisans who’ve had personal experiences with particular resources, and connects users to identity-affirming services.

3. Call Data Analysis & Advocacy

LGBTQIA+ populations are underrepresented and undervalued in research. We use long-term, aggregated call data to systematically identify the St. Louis LGBTQIA+ community’s needs, analyze trends in call topics, and advocate for queer-centered changes in culture, policy, and services among policymakers and service providers.

4. Training for Partner Organizations

Queer St. Louisans lack access to identity-affirming care and are often forced to put in the emotional labor to educate their own providers, especially if they hold multiple marginalized identities. SQSH works with community partners to increase queer St. Louisans’ access to identity-affirming health supports by providing crucial training in queer-affirming interaction skills to improve the quality of client care among local service providers.

5. Education for Queer Community Members

To help promote skill-building and professional development among queer St. Louisans, SQSH teaches monthly community courses with the goal of strengthening mental health skills, knowledge, and practice within the St. Louis LGBTQIA+ community. In 2021, SQSH taught a 10-module peer counseling series and a course on queer-centered sexual and relationship health to over 60 community members, who rated these courses highly. In addition, before SQSH Helpline Volunteers take calls, we provide them with 48+ hours of rigorous training and evaluations where they gain peer counseling skills, an understanding of queer issues, knowledge of local resources, and confidence in advocating for LGBTQIA+ rights.

6. Volunteer Engagement Program

Through our volunteer engagement program, we engage a broad range of queer St. Louisans in impactful systems-change work, strengthen grassroots networks, and foster meaningful connections among queer St. Louisans. Unlike traditional nonprofits where staff relegate the most menial tasks to volunteers, our non-hierarchical organization empowers queer volunteers to engage in substantial program planning and service delivery, strengthening the web of peer support among our internal community.

Before SQSH, no queer-specific peer counseling resource had existed in St. Louis since the 1980s. In March 2019, we – a group of passionate queer St. Louisans – founded SQSH in response to a community needs assessment highlighting the violence, discrimination, abuse, health disparities, and barriers to resources faced by the St. Louis LGBTQIA+ community.

In April 2019, by drawing on identity-based peer support models and experience working on a sexual assault hotline, we developed a 50-hour LGBTQIA-focused peer counseling training curriculum. Between April and August 2019, we recruited volunteers from all over St. Louis to train and serve on SQSH’s Peer Support Helpline. On August 10, 2019, we graduated our first cohort of 15 peer counselors. On September 20, 2019, we launched our Peer Support Helpline and received a call the first day we opened.

Since then, our local presence has grown as we built deep relationships with our community. In 2020, we expanded our hours and offered appointments amidst the pandemic. Calls were sporadic when we first launched and established our service, but became more consistent starting in late 2020.

In March 2020, we filmed a Community Video highlighting the day-to-day challenges faced by St. Louisans. In February 2021, we partnered with the St. Louis Civil Rights Enforcement Agency to advocate for LGBTQIA+ needs in the local shelter system using data from our housing-related calls. In March 2021, we started the Mutual Aid hotline in collaboration with STL Mutual Aid, providing assistance to St. Louisans hard-hit by COVID-19.

Today, SQSH mobilizes over 80 volunteers, has taken over 200 calls, has recruited and trained 48 peer counselors, and hopes to expand to Missouri and Illinois in the next 5-10 years.

Amidst the pandemic, our St. Louis LGBTQIA+ family faces deepening isolation and health disparities. As the only local community-based organization focused on queer mental health, SQSH has the potential to grow and support St. Louis’s ecosystem of queer-led social justice work. Your support will enable:

SQSH to survive and thrive as a growing organization
Our Peer Support Helpline to continue operating without disruption
Our Staff to find a safe haven in St. Louis while earning a living wage.
Our Volunteers to do liberating, joyful work for our communities while having their basic needs supported
Our Peer Counselors to undergo the rigorous training needed to provide high-quality support to callers
Our Trainers to hone SQSH’s curriculum and teach community members lifesaving peer support skills
Our SQSHBook Team to develop and maintain a comprehensive St. Louis resource guide

Every small donation adds up to make a big difference!

$10 – One week of community outreach materials
$15 – One queer community anthology book
$25 – One month of Peer Support Line phone bills
$50 – One Peer Support Line Shift stipend
$80 – One STARLING individual healing session
$100 – One community-building event
$150 – One STARLING group healing space
$200 – One monthly stipend for a queer Systems Change Fellow
$300 – One allyship education course
$400 – One semester of programming for one Queer Youth Peer Leader

One-Time Donations

Strengthen grassroots efforts to support the St. Louis LGBTQIA+ community by donating to SQSH.

Team Members